Part 46 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes.

Guess I ought to dedicate this story to Eric, who spoke some kind words when I especially needed to hear them. Apparently it was enough to get me going on writing this story. I've had the idea for a while but just couldn't seem to sit down at the keyboard and make it happen.

Happy Holidays to all – whichever ones you celebrate, whenever you celebrate them!

Puddles

(Apr, 11 IV)

The king's party rode directly into the barn, and dismounted there where they were out of the rain. Eomer and his brother-in-law, Faramir, had taken their older children out for a ride and picnic, but the skies had darkened and despite their haste in returning, they were still fairly drenched. Stable hands scurried to help with the horses as the two men gathered their wet brood and moved to the stable doors.

Faramir gazed out and up at the sky. It did not take his long years as a Ranger to know that this downpour would not end soon. Glancing at Eomer, he commented, "We might as well brave it. It is not going to clear much and we are already soaked through. The sooner we reach Meduseld, the sooner we can be in dry clothing."

Eomer nodded his agreement at the assessment, and looked down to direct his children to hurry home. Before he could do so, however, his youngest daughter, Theodwyn, bolted giggling past him and out into the rain. An instant later the three-year-old was gleefully splashing in a large puddle that had formed in a depression below the eaves of the roof. The runoff had quickly filled it with water, and Theodwyn's agitation of the soft soil had formed a thickening puddle of mud. Eomer stood staring at his daughter in dismay – his wife was not going to be happy about this!

As he stood debating what to do, Faramir's elbow nudged him and, with a mischievous grin, the Prince of Ithilien dashed out into the rain and joined the Lady Theodwyn! Eomer gaped in disbelief at this complete lack of decorum on the part of the usually quite reserved man, then with a shrug he gestured to the two boys to follow. It did not take much convincing for Elboron and Elfwine to join in the fun, and in short order a full-fledged mud fight was going. Only Faramir's daughter, Luthiel, hesitated. At six, she was trying hard to be a lady, but it was difficult to do so in the face of such temptation. Finally, she decided her mother would not scold her too severely since the others were also doing it, and she plunged into the fray.

A contingent of stable hands had gathered at the doors to watch the royal families at play. Perhaps it wasn't entirely dignified of the king to be behaving so, but certainly they could not begrudge him time playing with his children. And, for most of them, it reaffirmed what they already believed about the king – that he was a man, just like any other, but first and foremost a husband and father. It did their hearts good to see him happy and relaxed.

It did not take long for the six participants to be covered head to toe in mud. Their eyes gave an owlish appearance as they gazed laughingly at one another. When all seemed satisfied that they were done, the troop headed up the hill toward the Golden Hall. The door guards had difficulty restraining smirks and could not keep from sneaking looks from the corner of their eyes.

Eomer glanced at his co-conspirators and sighed. "I guess we better get this over with..." He signaled for the guard to open the door and they stepped inside. As the six made their way in, still laughing and talking about their adventure, Eomer saw his wife and sister standing near the firepit, and both women looked up. For an instant, Lothiriel simply stared blankly at the sight before her, but when Eomer took a step in her direction, she came to herself immediately. "Hold it right there!"

Handing her baby to Eowyn, she charged down the hall toward them, with Eowyn trailing behind in amusement.

"Out! All of you! Outside!" Lothiriel ordered, pointing to the door behind them.

"But Thiri..." Eomer began, only to be cut off.

"I will send buckets of water out to you and you will wash that mud off. Only then may you come inside!" The children stared silently at her, and nodded vigorously their agreement to this instruction.

Eomer thought to protest, but Faramir's hand caught his arm. Turning to the other man, the king was told, "Come, Eomer. We knew this would happen." Faramir cast Lothiriel a sheepish, apologetic look and drew her husband after him outside.

As the door closed behind them, Eowyn stepped to Lothiriel's side. The two women stared at the door for several moments without speaking. Then Lothiriel felt a nudge in her side and glanced toward her sister-in-law. "Care to wager on whose family started this?" Eowyn asked with a wink.

The women collapsed against one another, laughing heartily, and Lothiriel replied, "My money is on Theodwyn, but I cannot wait to hear the explanation for why everyone else is muddy!" Taking baby Theomund back into her arms, she added, "But, in truth, I cannot truly be angry. Eomer gets too few moments of frivolty such as this, and I would not have him grow old before his time with cares and worries. I hope the boy I married never entirely grows up!"

Eowyn nodded her understanding, and they moved away to alert the servants to the newest drama unfolding at Meduseld.

THE END

12-8-05

Luthiel is supposed to mean something like "daughter of an enchantress"

Age cheat sheet: Elboron is 11, Elfwine is 10, Luthiel is 6 and Theodwyn is 3.

End note: It is not essential that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written, but there is an advantage to doing so. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order, but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content.