Chapter 11- So Much to Think About

6 months later…

Breakfast was almost religious for the Dol Amrothian royalty. Imrahil would start the meal with a word of reverence, delight, and, sometimes even, fear. The latter had found its way into their lives during the pull of the war. They all remembered well that morning Imrahil was to leave for Minas Tirith. It was a speech rarely heard in the Great Hall of Dol Amroth. "Don't fear for me, I will see the light on the shining shores again." It had been a tearful goodbye. It was the main reason that the family became so close.

Time had passed, though, and Minas Tirith was under the command of a King now, and Imrahil saw the shining shore again, just like he promised. And the time passed to give way to worries far less than the fate of the world.

Now, for example, they sat down to a meal of cheese and bread and a little wine. It was a time of emotional clarity and concentration. Each person at the table had something on their mind. Amrothos, who sat on the farthest end of the table, thought aboutthe Rohirric he had been studying in Ithilien for the past couple months. He couldn't remember if the direct object came first in a sentence or if it was the subject. He mused as he sipped his tea, for he was too young to drink wine in the morning. Erchirion, who sat just above Amrothos, thought of the many girls he was interested in at the time. There was Lela, Anthiriel, Elanor, and Niphredil. So many to choose from, so little time. Then there was Elphir, the gentle one, who sat nearest his father. He mused of his duties as son and captain. He also thought very long and hard on his love interest. Melian, daughter of his fathers most trusted advisor, was as lovely as she was kind. She was sweet and generous, funny and interesting. He believed he loved her, and was contemplating whether he should ask for her hand or not. He had been courting her for the past month or so and hoped so greatly that his affection was enough to convince her to say yes.

The mind occupied the most this morning was the man of the house. Imrahil was sitting back comfortably in his chair thinking about the one person who wasn't present at the table. Lothiriel. She had been very depressed in the past couple months. Ever since their trip to Minas Tirith she had been having horrible nightmares and often had woken up screaming. He didn'tknew why and she wouldn't talk to him about it. …

Speaking of…

"Where have you been?" Imrahil asked as a young woman in a white nightgown came into the room.

"You look awful," said Erchirion to the young woman. She really did look awful, like she had been up all night. Imrahil looked away at his son's words and the whole table knew why. It was her dreams that plagued her.

"Thanks. You look great, too, brother," she responded with harshness in her voice.

"I was just saying." but he wandered off. The look on his sister's face told him responding would be a bad idea.

"I'm sure. So what's for breakfast?"

And with that they all sat down again to a wonderful breakfast full of thought and contemplation. Only now the silence was awkward and Imrahil occasionally looked over at his daughter with sorrow in his eyes.

"What was it this time, daughter?" Imrahil was slowly taking the approach toward Lothiriel. She stood high upon a precipice that jettisoned out from the green hills that rolled out behind them. The sun was bouncing off the water in a warm ray of red. It was the sun rising red that Lothiriel loved to see each morning. She had been out here since breakfast ended and her father knew it. He stared at her waiting for an answer.

"Same as always, my lord."

"Father. I am your father. Please stop calling me your lord. It pains my heart."

"Why shouldn't I call you my lord? Everyone else does."

"You have got to stop torturing yourself, my dear."

"You think I am doing this to myself?" A long silence followed as Imrahil stood quiet next to her looking at the red light.

"What do you mean by 'same as always'?"

"It happened again, father," this time Imrahil ignored the way she said father with a ruthless tone.

"You mean you saw the man?"

"Yes, the man…" she trailed off as she remembered his shining eyes.

"Was it a nightmare?"

"No. Nothing horrible happened, if that is what you mean. It's never really like that. It's just…haunting."

"Why, my dear?"

"I can't explain it…I just know."

"This has to stop, Lothiriel."

"Well, I would love to fix it, but I am at a loss, regrettably." Her tone was once again harsh, but realizing the person she addressed was not just some person to push around she lost the fervor by the end of the line.

"This has been persisting far too long. It started at that wedding. What happened?"

The wedding. She had been trying her best not to remember that day. It wasn't the wedding so much, but the person she had to see at the wedding. It was only a few months ago, and only a few months after she had last seen the group for the engagement party. It was enjoyable enough, for Éowyn and Faramir were happy as could be. But one face plagued her and made her good humor disappear. The King. King Éomer of Rohan was the most blunt, rude, horrible human being she had ever met, and what made it worse was that she had actually been attracted to him at one point. She strayed from those feelings now, as she thought of their conversation in the newly made hall in Helm's Deep, which had now been developed as a resort of sorts. She had seemed surprised by the place, but he could see nothing but her.

"Hello, my lady."

"Ah, King Éomer. What a… pleasant surprise."

"And I see you haven't changed a bit."

"Don't give me that, you stuff shirt, peacock-" but that was one of those moments when swallowing your words didn't even begin to describe what was necessary.

"Hello, Your Highness." It was Prince Imrahil. He had heard every word. "I must apologize for my daughter's disrespect."

"It is alright, my Lord. We were just having a friendly chat."

"Is that what you call it?" he then looked from his daughter's blushing face to the King's proud one. "Play nice children, I need to go speak with King Elessar." He smiled widely and strode away chuckling.

When he was out of ear shot Éomer turned to Lothiriel. "My lady, I'm sorry about the houses of healing, it was inappropriate, but-"

"I don't want to talk about that," she said cutting him off. Her face was streaked with tears. "I can't."

"I never meant to hurt you." He reached out to grab her hand, but she pulled away. His persistence didn't falter, though. "I had to know if it was you. I… I was there, Lothiriel. I saw you, with that man."

"You were…" her mind started to twirl. She remembered. It was him. He kissed her. Or maybe it was the other way around. For one second her heart filled with hope and happiness. At the look on her face he began to smile. For that one instant life was beautiful—they were beautiful.

Then she smacked him. The hall came alive with confusion at her simple motion. And one man came apart from the crowd. "Lothiriel!" Imrahil was beet red, but it didn't affect Lothiriel who simply marched out of the room stomping as she went.

The rest of the time there had been torture. She had avoided him like the plague. Meanwhile, he had wasted no time getting to know many of the Dol Amroth ladies. She was insulted, and concluded that he was a jerk.

"Daughter?" coming out of her dream-like-state she saw the concerned face of her father. "What is it, darling?"

"You were there, father. You can make your own conclusions."

"I don't want to make conclusion. I want you to tell me what is going on with you. What happened?"

"King Éomer happened, father." Then she strode back into the house as her father watched the sun go yellow instead of red.

It was as he had feared.

A/N: Sorry it took so long. My internet was down. It sucked. But I'm back and so is this chapter. Now I only got one review on the last chapter so... could you guys please review? I would love to hear what you think. You can even ask questions if you are confused about something...lol. I promise no review is too silly! Thanks everyone!