I'm so sorry this took a long time to get onto , but school has been trying, by eldest brother (ten years my senior) and my dad are going ballistic because "I am not communicating." Give me a break. I am in that very nice rebellious teenager stage. Parents and related adults are no-no's. I just want everyone to give a big round of applause to GreyLadyBast who is now my beta reader. And my story, which sadly already needs a major revision, has been graciously placed under her control in that aspect. So thank you very much, GreyLadyBast and nightstar13 for reviewing and everyone else who wrote that my story sucked, rocked, or was in the middle.

Chapter VI

I didn't know why we bothered with the hair make-up thing because Éowyn was wearing a different dress, and I naturally assumed I was going to have to change my dress. The dress had been somewhat difficult this morning with several buttons in the back, but I had managed before being berated for drying my hair the way I had been.

"Am I going to have to change this dress?"

"Yes. It is a foolish practice, but women have to do it or are considered terribly rude. There are many times when I just want to pound their self-righteous heads. And you would be surprised at how easy that would be."

I stood up, preparing for the unbuttoning of my dress. I started to ask Éowyn to turn around, but she just smiled and quickly left the room to her bed chamber, closing the door softly behind her.

There were several dresses she had already laid out for me on the chair. I picked the one with the highest neckline. After all, I wouldn't be comfortable. Showing that much skin might result in a cold. I had always hated colds anyway. Nasty dratted things that came too early and stayed too late and made me sniff like crazy.

The dress was white, long sleeved, and the neckline came to the base of my neck. The buttons on the back were slightly more complicated than the green dress, but it didn't bother me much. In the looking glass, I did have to admit with my black hair up, I did look very good. I was just a little over five feet tall, with still more to grow (I had grown bit by bit my entire life and I hadn't shown any signs of stopping recently).

Éowyn knocked on the door. "Are you finished, Ardeas?"

One last look in the mirror. "Yes." I turned over my shoulder, "Yes, I'm finished."

I glanced down my front, smoothing out any wrinkles and calmly walked to the door.

I opened it to see Éowyn sitting on her bed, finishing a small braid. I noticed she already had another braid on her left side.

She turned to see me and smiled. "You look wonderful. You'll have all of them looking twice tonight."

I made a mock-curtsy, "Thank you."

She laughed. "Come. We have to be at dinner on time."

The single window at the end of the hall showed signs of an hour or so before sunset. The sunlight streamed through the window making a golden shape on the floor. Such simple beauty.

To my surprise, I found Éowyn opening the doors to the Golden Hall. I chastised myself. I should have known. They didn't have another giant hall for an eating area. They must set up tables here at mealtimes.

There were several tables and benches set up around the room. I noticed that most of the nobles were already here, including most of the men whom Éowyn and I had seen practicing this afternoon. All of them stood at places behind the benches, waiting to sit down. When Éowyn entered, all of them bowed slightly or if they were female, curtsied with a slight bob of the head. Everyone looked especially nice, even Mortelia who was fuming when she saw me. Her friends seemed "slightly" picqued as well. If eyes could sear through you like a knife, they would have shredded me to ribbons. The Éomer group looked at me as if I was some kind of strange and dangerous insect that needed to be squashed. The man who had been smoking his pipe and watching me before looked at me again. He tilted his head slightly as if still questioning something about me. Théodred took one glance at me, but quickly turned away when he saw me watching him. Puzzling behaviour those two.

I didn't have time to think about their behaviour much. I shouldn't care anyway. I had the King on my side if I was innocent; I hadn't done anything wrong, so I was not guilty about whatever they thought I was or had done. Either way, those stares/glances still confused me.

Éowyn led me toward the head of a long table near the center of the room, closest to the throne. I noticed I was sitting in between Éomer, who smiled at me as I stood next to him, and Éowyn. I supposed that normally they sat side by side but for tonight at least, I was to sit between them to avoid the awkwardness of sitting next to a stranger. Something nice that small was rather touching. Théodred stood across from me to my left. His seat was right next to the head of the table. I assumed that Théoden was sitting at the head, being King of the Mark and all. And then it hit me why we were all standing up. The King hadn't arrived. I didn't know of this custom. Some sign of respect I suppose.

A door opened and Théoden walked briskly to the head of the table. We all stood in reverent silence. Théoden mumbled something under his breath as if his mind were elsewhere. He looked down the table at all of us, and then moved his hands to show us that we could sit down. We all did and the room exploded with speech as servants came up with plates heaped with food, serving first the King and then so on down the table before moving to other tables. I looked down at my plate as a young girl scarcely older than me set a plate with meat and vegetables down in front of me. I turned around and said, "Thank you," really meaning it. The times with Rourn and Findulwyn when they had told me to say thank you I had did it in order to eat the food they had given me. Now I truly meant it. The maid gave a hint of a smile but schooled her figures back to a neutral expression before moving down the row.

I turned back to my food which looked far better than I had ever done.

I was starving, believe it or not, and the food looked so good. I was about to stuff my face when I saw in the corner of my eye Éowyn making frantic eye motions to watch how she ate her food so I didn't make a fool of myself. She used a knife besides her plate and her index finger to cut up the meat into bite sized portions. She did the same to the vegetables.

Haha. What a joke. But I did it anyway. Éowyn might change her mind about the sword-fighting thing. And if it wasn't for those, I might end up dying of boredom.

I imitated her actions with my knife but it was rather difficult. I looked over at Éomer who was doing the same process but slightly more messily. Something about masculinity I suppose. Rourn did that too. What is it with men? Do they have to be messy or it impugns upon their maleness?

The food, unquestionably, turned out to be delicious. I felt very pleased recognizing some of the kinds of vegetables that I had grown in the garden.

Much to my delight, I found Krane sitting a few seats down across from me but still in speaking range. He seemed very pleased to see me here.

The food and the chatting lasted for several minutes, while I got my first taste of wine.

I was surprised. Rourn had had a flask of liquor that he carried around once in while. I had sneaked a taste once, and it was atrocious. The wine tasted somewhat fruity. And there were other flavors in it that I couldn't not describe.

A hand on my mine as I reached up to take another sip silently warned me not too. I looked up questioningly at Éowyn. A quick shake of the head. I put my glass down. She returned to eating her food, as I did mine.

Conversation was rare, as Théodred not-so-subtly ignored me, Éomer spoke to his uncle, and Éowyn talked excitedly to her friends down the table.

It seemed that as soon as I had finished one plate, the servants brought in another and I was compeled to eat this dish as well.

By the end of the third dish, I felt sick. The food weighed down my tongue and I was finding it difficult to swallow without choking. I turned toward the door to the kitchens, hoping that a maid wasn't carrying another dish for me.

I looked at Éowyn's plate of food, it was only her second, and by the looks of it, she had barely touched it. Just looking at it made me feel quite ill. I felt the bile rise in my throat, but I hurriedly swallowed it. I reminded myself about how embarrassing it would be to throw up. I wouldn't let it happen, I wouldn't let it happen.

I closed my eyes, just breathing. I opened my eyes just in time to see a maid carrying another plate, heaped with meat and vegetables, making a beeline for me.

I could just not eat it, I thought. But wouldn't that be ungracious? Afterall, I could be back there eating a handful of stale bread and dried meat.

The maid removed my empty plate and set down the steaming food in front of me.

My breathing came rather shallowly as I picked up my spoon. I felt that I had to eat it.

"Are all right milady?" Krane asked tentatively.

I didn't even bother to correct him about my annoyance at the title. I nodded quickly, looking into his eyes to assure him. He gave me a slightly puzzled look, but turned back to his previous conversation.

I took one spoonful of a steamy vegetable and put the spoon in my mouth, sliding the spoon out carefully and beginning to chew. It was a struggle to swallow, but I did it, and I realized all to late that was a mistake. My stomach couldn't take it.

I mumbled something incoherent to Éowyn who had taken up a cautious interest in me at Krane's inquiry. I got up and abruptly turned, hoping to make it into the bathing room I had been in previously before I vomited.

I started stumbling away from the table, and I didn't hear Éowyn's and Théoden's queries.

I didn't get far. I bent down five feet from the table and heaved my heart out. The vomit stung my throat and burned my mouth. I clutched my abdomen and rocked back and forth on my knees. I had never eaten so much in my life. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. I felt so stupid. Only I could have done something like that. Of course Théoden wouldn't have thought me ungrateful by not eating the fourth plate. My Assertive Side was kicking my Nervous Side across the room.

My hearing kicked back into gear for a few seconds enough to hear a few snide remarks as well as Mortelia's laughing. I could almost see the tears streaming down her face as she laughed. In fact the only thing I could see was my vomit. The smell invaded my nostrils with such a powerful scent I'm sure everyone would have agreed that the only sensible thing I could have done at that moment was to pass out. Which was exactly what I did.

--

I don't remember collapsing into my own retch, but that's what Éowyn said I had done. And I do not remember a very reluctant Théodred carrying me to the bathing room for Éowyn to clean me up. And I most certainly do not remember the entire room exploding in laughter after they had thought Théodred and Éowyn were far enough down the hall and out of hearing range.

I became conscious again after about twenty minutes, but promptly fell asleep as I found I was in a bed with someone rubbing a cool cloth on my forehead.

I awoke the next morning around dawn, and I was surprised to find Éowyn sitting in a chair next to the bed, reading.

She smiled when she saw me awake.

"Rather stupid of me, wasn't it?" I said, grinning slightly at last night's mistake.

"T'was not your fault," she answered kindly, but continued with a more puzzled expression, "But I don't see why you just didn't eat what you didn't want to."

I looked down at the coverlet, rather embarrassed now. I had been very foolish, and I was loath to admit it.

"I thought I would be rude to not eat what was given to me."

"There is a limit, you know, of how much you should eat and how much anyone expects you to."

"I know that now. But they just kept giving me more."

"That had me wondering as well. The kitchen staff never does that to anyone. Usually they will serve on plate, and if you want more, you say so. I noticed you never did."

"No, I never did ask for more, but it was still my fault for overeating." Ardeas felt a blush tinging her cheeks, "I've never been more embarrassed in my life."

Éowyn laughed lightly, "Believe me, child, I've done worse in front of all the nobles."

"Really?"

Éowyn smiled wistfully, as if remembering some past mild act of mayhem, and then nodded. "But those tales are for another time. For now, you should sleep. You had a slight fever last night."

"Did you sleep at all?"

"I drowsed for an hour or so, but you should not worry about me. I've gone without sleep many times before."

I felt too tired to argue, and I soon slipped down onto the bed, sinking into the comforting black oblivion of sleep.

A/N: rather short... i hope i did improve in my writing especially during the last half of the chapter. you can say thanks to robert cormier for that. i just finished the chocolate war, a VERY very good book summed up by this quote "Do I dare change the universe?" and even though the title reminds me of willie wonka, it's actually on the list of 100 books to read before college. i am going back and revising all of my chapters so far with the help of my beta reader (3 cheers for greyladybast) and a friend lady angelica whom i actually know off of ok, it is 11:35 PM on a school night, and tho that isn't very late, i am very tired. review, review, review and remember i am always open to plot suggestions since i never write with an outline.

PS

Lady Angelica and I have revised the first two chapters, with GreyLadyBast to do the fine tuning if she wants to. They are changed in that Éowyn sounds more like the real Éowyn in the books (not exactly, but more real). I will be working on the third chapter soon.

Just an explanation before I get a whole bunch of reviews saying that Rohirrim used forks. I must point out that in Medieval times, which is the era in which Rohan is, they used daggers to cut up their meat and spoons for soup. No forks. If they didn't want to stick a dagger in their mouth they used their fingers. If they did use silverware, forgive me. I haven't gotten to The Two Towers in my yearly readings of The Lord of the Rings, and I don't remember details like that from previous readings. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I had originally been planning a fanfic about Boromir's childhood and I have part of the first chapter done, but I have been bogged down by school and several other stories that I have started (one about a retirement community murder mystery and a school shooting).