Replies at end.
Chapter 12
It was clear during supper, that although Eomer and Lothiriel had reached an agreement, they did not intend to publicly announce anything until Eomer had formally spoken to Imrahil. With the way the two were beaming at one another and laughing together throughout the meal, it was beyond Imrahil to understand why none of his sons seemed to suspect a thing.
Once supper was ended, Eomer wasted no time in seeking an audience with Imrahil, and Lothiriel joined them in her father's study. Coming straight to the point, Eomer explained, "My friend, I seek your permission to court and marry your daughter. We have developed feelings for one another and she has agreed to be my wife."
He stood nervously before the Prince, almost at attention, and Imrahil suppressed his amusement that the young king struck him as a wayward boy awaiting punishment for some misdeed.
With a smile, he answered warmly, "If my daughter has accepted you, then I will not dispute the matter. I know you to be a fine and honorable man. I would be delighted to call you my son."
Eomer let out a relieved breath and grinned at Lothiriel, reaching for her hand.
Imrahil stood and moved around his desk to sit on the front of it, facing the couple. "You may trothplight here while you are visiting and then we can travel to Edoras for the announcement, if you like. The usual courtship period is one…"
"Father," Lothiriel interrupted, knowing what he was about to say, "as I am marrying the king of Rohan, and will be queen of that land, is it not appropriate that I follow Rohan's customs and traditions rather than Gondor's?"
Imrahil's eyebrow twitched up in surprise. Still, he could not deny she made a valid argument. "And what exactly would be the Eorlinga custom of marriage, if I may ask?"
Eomer had not expected this turn of events, but cleared his throat. "It is the usual practice to announce the betrothal, with the wedding to occur a week later."
"A week!" Imrahil exclaimed. "You cannot be serious!"
"Father, things are done differently in Rohan. They do not have the leisure to take copious amounts of time for everything, as we seem to do in Gondor," Lothiriel soothed. She thought for a moment, then added, "Under the circumstances, I believe we would need to slightly modify the Rohirric custom. Now that Middle-earth is reunited, I am confident that nobles of Gondor will wish to attend Eomer's wedding, so time must be allowed to send announcements. Perhaps we could trothplight here in Dol Amroth, send announcements fixing a date for the wedding one month later, and then travel to Edoras to observe the formalities there while we await the visitors."
Imrahil's eyes narrowed. "You have thought this matter through rather thoroughly, Thiri. Particularly since you said you and Eomer only came to an understanding this afternoon."
Lothiriel blushed slightly, looking guilty. Finally, she confessed, "Though I did not think my affections were returned by Eomer, I could not resist thinking about what it might be like if they were. I learned the Eorlinga customs on the matter, and considered our particular situation and determined what would need to happen." Glancing down at her feet, she murmured, "But in the last couple of months, I have not given the matter much thought as I assumed it to be a hopeless cause."
Eomer squeezed her hand reassuringly, and then raised it to kiss the back of it. "I am sorry, my love, to have caused you such distress. I was slow to realize my feelings for you, but I assure you that I will never be slow to constantly remind you of them the rest of your days."
Lothiriel swallowed hard, trying to choke back tears at his words, and Imrahil smiled with pleasure. Yes, they would be very good for each other, indeed!
"Very well," Imrahil announced, "we will follow the plan Lothiriel has outlined. You may trothplight tomorrow and we will send out the invitations immediately."
Knowing her brothers would never forgive her if they found out about this just as everyone else did, the three were summoned and the joyous news shared with them. They were stunned, to say the least, not having suspected such a thing, but delighted by it since they liked Eomer so well. Amrothos was the least enthusiastic about this revelation, but seemed resigned to it.
Each of them had embraced their sister and wished her well. When it was Amrothos' turn, he pulled her close, clinging fiercely to her. After a moment, she pulled back to look in his eyes, an unasked question passing to him. With a sigh, he gave her a sad smile and said, "I think perhaps I knew it would come to this. You were showing far too much interest in Rohan at Faramir's wedding, though I confess I rather thought you had your eye on that soldier, Eothain, instead of the king!"
She gave an amused laugh. "Little wonder you were so evil to him, then! He is a dear friend, but he has never held my affections." She paused, then told him with suppressed laughter, "Which is a good thing, as it happens! I did promise you not to fall in love with a Rohirric soldier, but I said nothing about falling in love with a soldier turned king!"
They hugged again as they laughed, and he whispered, "Perhaps I ought to seek a wife in Rohan, so I may live nearby!"
She smiled into his shoulder. "I do not think the ladies of Edoras would object one bit to being courted by my handsome brother!"
xxxxx
Even though Eomer and Lothiriel had stayed up late, talking and kissing in the garden, Lothiriel was up at first light, too excited about the events of the day to lie abed.
As she descended the stairs to the morning meal, she was joined by Eomer, who wrapped her hand in his and pulled her close for a quick kiss. "Good morning," he murmured against her lips.
"It is now!" she replied, grinning.
Laughing together, they continued on to the dining hall where the remainder of her family was already gathered. Imrahil had arranged for the trothplighting to take place on the steps of the palace at mid-morning, and messengers had been sent to announce it throughout the city.
At the allotted time, a considerable crowd of well-wishers had taken up position in the plaza. Eomer glanced at Lothiriel, who, to his surprise, looked uneasy. "You are nervous?" he asked.
She shrugged. "A little. It is not every day a girl agrees to marry a king!" When he continued to gaze at her questioningly, she gently added, "It is nothing, my love. I am only nervous about observing the formalities, not about marrying you."
He smiled with relief and gave her a tender kiss, and she welcomed the reassurance of it. A moment later, they were signaled out onto the terrace to join Imrahil. The Prince led them through the official wording of the trothplight and the crowd cheered their approval when it was ended. Eomer seized the opportunity to again kiss Lothiriel, much to the delight of the audience.
While everyone was milling about, talking excitedly about this good news, there came a commotion from the gates. It took a few moments for the disruption to be noticed by the Prince's family and Eomer, but they looked up as the crowd began to part, allowing several men on horseback to ride forward.
Eomer blinked in confusion at the sight of Eothain. His marshal should be in Edoras; what in the world was he doing here?
Coming to a halt, Eothain inclined his head respectfully to his king and the prince. "My lords, please pardon the interruption to your festivities. It seems I came on one errand and now it has taken a turn."
Everyone was looking rather puzzled by his cryptic remarks, and Eomer voiced their question. "Eothain, what is the meaning of this? Why are you here?"
Dismounting, he waved another rider forward, leading a dappled grey mare. Taking the lead rope, Eothain moved to the bottom of the steps, and bowed, then grinned. "I thought the king might like to gift the Lady Lothiriel with a horse, but now it would appear he may offer this animal as a wedding gift to his bride!"
Lothiriel gasped, then released Eomer's hand and hurried down the steps to meet the mare who watched her with languid eyes. "She is beautiful, Eothain! Thank you!"
" 'Tis not from me, my lady, but the king…even if he did not know it until now!" Eothain teased.
Eomer descended the steps slowly, his eyes narrowed at his friend. Quietly he muttered, "I will talk to you later!" He moved to examine the horse Eothain had chosen and, upon closer look, recognized her. "Anlicferth?"
Eothain nodded. "A sister to your Firefoot. A good choice, would you not agree?" There was nothing apologetic in his manner, Eomer noticed, turning slowly back to the mare.
To Lothiriel, Eomer commented, "It is indeed fitting that she should belong to you, my love, if you would like to have her."
"Of course! She is wonderful!" Lothiriel exclaimed, as the mare nuzzled at her dress, looking for treats. Casting a glance between Eothain and Eomer, she tried unsuccessfully to solemnly tell Eomer, "I thank you, my lord, for your generosity in this gift!" Unable to restrain herself, she broke into giggles, and she could tell both men were struggling not to join her. Eventually, they both cracked grins and Lothiriel was assured there was no ill feeling in the matter.
Erchirion came forward then and offered, "I will show these men to the stables to see their horses settled in, and then get them situated in quarters for the duration of their visit."
The crowd had slowly begun to disperse as well, quickly losing interest in the gifted horse, and drifted back to their homes or work. Imrahil and Elphir headed back inside to get the invitations begun and on their way, leaving Eomer and Lothiriel in the plaza. Before Eothain could escape, Eomer told him, "A word, with you, Marshal, if you please."
Amrothos appeared at Lothiriel's side and, noticing the looks between the two men, suggested to his sister, "Come and show me this new horse of yours, Thiri. Who would have thought you would become such an avid horsewoman!" The two walked off arm in arm, and Eomer promised to join them in the stables in a few moments.
He turned to Eothain, once they were gone. "Why is it, my friend, that you do not seem particularly surprised by my betrothal to Lothiriel?" Eomer inquired.
Eothain burst into laughter. "You must be jesting, Eomer! You were the only one who could not see the obvious. I have been watching you with Lothiriel for quite some time and could tell you were drawn to her. What was less clear was whether she returned your interest. When she remained longer in Rohan and I saw the two of you in a snowball fight, it was clear that the lady did indeed feel similarly. Gamling and I could not believe it when you let her leave Edoras without a betrothal in place or the promise of such to come. We have long had something of a wager as to how long it would take you to wake up and make Lothiriel your queen!"
Eomer flushed red with embarrassment. "Was it that plain?" he muttered. "Why did you never say anything?"
"Would you have listened?" Eothain replied, then answered his own question. "Of course not. If we had done anything to push you toward her, you would have turned tail and run. No, we had to let you get there on your own, as painful as it was to watch you be so slow!"
Eomer glared at him menacingly. " A fine friend you turned out to be! You do nothing to help me find my true love, and then you mock me when I do!"
Despite the look, Eothain did not miss the jest in his words. Mock-bowing, he said, "My apologies, my king. It was very remiss of me! Besides, how can you claim I did nothing to help you? What do you think this 'gift horse' was all about?"
Feigning an angry demeanor, Eomer commented, "Yes, the gift horse of mine that you so freely gave away, here in Dol Amroth when you are supposed to be in Edoras!"
Eothain shrugged. "I serve my king, wherever he may be, and in the manner I think in his best interest! Would you like me to take back your gift and find the lady another animal?" He arranged his facial features to as innocent a look as he could muster.
Eomer burst out laughing. "Yes, that would be so diplomatic! Take back a gift less than an hour after it has been given! No doubt Imrahil would then see fit to take back his permission to wed his daughter, in retaliation for my bad manners!"
With a sigh, Eomer grinned at his friend. "Because I am so happy, you are safe from repercussions for your actions…this time! And Anlicferth is an excellent choice for Lothiriel. I should have thought of it myself and made the gift without your assistance."
Laying an arm around the king's shoulders, Eothain smirked in triumph. "And it is not like you are truly losing the animal. She will still be in the family."
Eomer cuffed the back of his friend's head and moved toward the Dol Amroth stables. "You need to learn better respect for your king."
Trailing along behind, Eothain shook his head, saying sincerely, "On the contrary, I could not respect you more. And your chosen queen, as well."
Eomer stopped to turn and look at him, then nodded. "I know. Thank you, my friend. For everything."
A/N: If my attempts at constructing a name from Old English are worth anything, then "Anlicferth"should mean something like "beautiful heart/mind"
Replies to reviewers (and big THANKS to all who have reviewed):
Tracey – "Please don't take out the birthing sequence! pleads Those always make me laugh." – not to worry, I won't change what I've already written just because Blue Eyes is being temporarily obtuse! We gotta get her over her babymaking/painful labor fixation though!
Tracey – "… even though they're inevitably going to end up married." – true, but you just never quite know how I'm going to get them to that point…
Kokki – "I think this is the first ever signed review I have written since I joined this site. (woohoo!)" – Wow! You're initiated! Glad you are enjoying the story. Yes, Tolkien did leave us a lot of leeway on E/L's relationship and how it came about and proceeded, and certainly fanfic writers have made/are making an attempt to explore every single one of them! - "I'm glad you update so quickly!" – I only post after a story is completely written, so that makes it easy to do. Plus I'm too impatient to drag it out and torment people!
thayzel – "I'm thinking that "proper kisses" between Lothíriel and Éomer before the official courting time seem somewhat.. out of line." – in a strict historical sense, probably so. The question becomes, though, just how strictly Tolkien was matching his "world" to actual history. Certainly there were two marriages among nobles (Aragorn/Arwen, Faramir/Eowyn) that we KNOW were not arranged marriages, and there seems to have been no objection by anyone to them marrying the person they loved. That, to me, opens up the possibility that other facets of Medieval society were not strictly adhered to either (thus making Faramir's kiss of Eowyn on the wall a bit less scandalous). I do, however, think they probably kept an eye on propriety and behaving in a seemly fashion, and that it would have been frowned upon for the nobility, particularly royal women, to be less than virgins when they married. My take is that I want to stay fairly close to accurate on historical details (if they even apply), but take a certain license to allow for a bit more romantic story. Longing glances across the room, a chaste kiss at the altar and then a wedding night that ends the story would leave you wondering if they truly loved each other, and how the other person knew. The words, the kisses, the embraces help to involve you in the romance, so they are included, but I omit details of any sexual intimacy after marriage because, to me, that tips into the category of voyeurism. I tell you enough for you to know they love each other deeply and as a married couple they do the things that married couples do. Hope that eases your annoyance a bit on the matter.
Jazzcat – "I wonder what the good sir was thinking of Lothiriel when he was courting her." – you do have to wonder about such "business" marriages. I'm sure most thought is directed toward the advantages provided by marrying a certain woman, and Lothiriel would come complete with many such advantages, but you do wonder if they ever give it any kind of personal thought at all. Perhaps many don't, but I chose to write Dorlion as at least liking Lothiriel, in addition to thinking she would make a good wife and advantageous choice.
Elwen of Lorien – "It wasn't exactly smooth and eloquent, but it was done the way we would expect Eomer to do it, straight from the heart." – that pretty well sums up how I've always pictured Eomer. I know he was taught courtly manners at some point, but somehow being a soldier for so long, I just don't picture him as Mr. Suave, but I do think he is Mr. Honest and Straightforward.