Éowyn stopped where she was told the camp would be made that night. Elladan and Elrohir were right behind her. She still wondered if they had offered to go or her brother had asked them to. She had rested Windfola enough so that she did not have to wait very long for the rest of the Riders to show up. Once they were there, she did all in her power to avoid Éomer, she helped set up tents on the other side of camp, while Éomer talked with Marshals.
Éomer finally caught her when dinner was served. He positioned himself next to her, though she was away from the group. She did not acknowledge him; Éomer knew that she would not say anything unless he did. He thought his words over carefully, something that he did not do very often.
Finally, he decided to speak. "Éowyn," he paused, wondering if she would retreat farther into herself. "Why did you ride Windfola so fast today?" He decided not to accuse her of anything, trying to get her talking.
"He has been in the stables for to long, and needed a run. I can take care of myself and see, I am here now. Now, the ride tired me, for I have not been out in as long as Windfola, so excuse me, brother, for I want to go to sleep." Éowyn said standing, thinking that she could not ignore her brother forever, but while she had the chance, this was a good start.
Some noticed Éowyn's early departure for her tent. Others were too caught up in talk of their homes. Some wondered if the wives they left with child now had children to come home to. Others dreaded telling some of the same wives that their husbands would never come home. But talk would lead to other things at the moment.
Elladan and Elrohir sat among the others who had all watched, without admitting it, what had happened. They had been part of the ones who had noticed the exchange and thought of some of the ones that they had had with Arwen. They could tell that Éowyn was mad at Éomer, without knowing what it was about. So they listened to the others talking, hoping to find out something that could lead to why Éowyn was mad, and maybe tell Éomer if he did not all ready know.
"...she seems to be in a fowl mood." Said one.
"Lady Éowyn never did join in rejoicing, though I know that Lord Éomer sent for her to join us." Said the other with him.
"Had you not heard the whispers concerning Lord Aragorn and her?"
"No, surly she should have been betrothed to him, if they were true."
"Yet, she is not, he still waits for the one he loves, it is said."
Elladan and Elrohir had heard enough. They decided not to talk to Éomer, thinking he knew Éowyn better than they did, and that Éowyn was not like Arwen. Their thoughts turned to, once they were back in their tent, to how to tell Arwen of this. If Éowyn really had those feelings for Aragorn, Arwen should know.
The rest of the journey to Edoras pasted without excitement. Only once more did Éowyn ride ahead, but she let the rest catch up. She kept to herself, as she had before. Éomer worried and tried to talk to her, but she would always end the conversation abruptly, leaving Éomer with the feeling they had said nothing. Elladan and Elrohir thought of how best to tell Arwen.
When Edoras came into view they pushed the horses faster, all wanting to return home. Éomer had sent out messengers to warn that they would be returning. The city was joyous with the return; though the feeling soon left with the number they saw. What was also noticed was that it was Éomer, not Théoden at the front of the number. Later that day there was an announcement stating that Théoden King was dead and once preparations were made, Éomer would return to Minas Tirith to retrieve his body and bring it back for burial.
Elladan and Elrohir sent out for Lothlórien to meet Arwen and their father.
Faramir bent low over his desk. Ithilien needed help and he was trying to manage it while helping rebuild Minas Tirith and Osgiliath. He knew it was late, but there had to be a way to mange all of it. He yawned, knowing that he had been trying to mange things ever since Éowyn had left. The stores of grain they had could be split, he had already worked that out, now came how to rebuild them. Most of the work, it had been decided, would be on the City. Ithilien and Osgiliath would wait for now, until Minas Tirith was completed. Still, there were people in both places and patrols had been sent to keep them safe and the gain was helping.
He heard a knock at the door, muttered, "enter" with out looking up. Aragorn had known that Faramir had taken to staying up late with his work. He had begun to worry about the younger man, thinking that he would make himself sick with all this. He needed to sleep Aragorn knew, for after Éowyn had left some of his illness had returned as well.
Faramir looked up and immediately straighten himself in his chair. Aragorn waved a hand. This did give him a better look at the deep circles under Faramir's eyes.
"It is all right, Faramir, I was just seeing if you had gone to sleep. You seem tired and need rest, more than this needs your attention." He indicated the papers on Faramir's desk.
"No, I'm fine, this is important, I may have ways to-" He cut himself off with another yawn.
"What you need is sleep, go, now, and if I must I will order you to." Aragorn said.
Faramir sighed; telling him to sleep would not help. Whenever he closed his eyes he saw Éowyn's face looking back at the Citadel before she left. He could not take that image out of his mind.
The escort with Arwen came to Edoras soon after the Twins had set out. They had met her between Lórien and Edoras, and had brought her back to Edoras. They had yet to tell her of what they knew about Éowyn. When the city came into their site, they rode to where Arwen was riding.
"Arwen, there is something we must tell you." Elrohir said.
Arwen turned her head to look at him. Elladan continued for his brother. They had decided that at the moment it was better to tell her what they had heard. "The Lady Éowyn has feelings for Estel."
Arwen looked at her other brother. "Are you sure?" She asked.
"We heard soldiers speaking of it, though not in those words." Elrohir said.
Arwen thought this over. "I will see if these tales are true, from her and not the soldiers, you know that they could lie." Arwen said.
The next day they arrived in Edoras, everyone looking at their entourage. Arwen was at the front with her father. Éomer and Éowyn welcomed them to the Meduseld, and Arwen took notice of Éowyn. She could tell that there was sadness in her, that she had lost something. Arwen then knew what Éowyn had lost, for she had seen that look before, in herself. Arwen decided that it would be best to talk to Éowyn soon.
Éowyn had overseen the preparations for Théoden's funeral, making sure that everything would be right. She had watched the men dig out the mound for him, made sure that his things were being stored away, and that Éomer would be moved to the King's rooms once he had been crowned.
She had found herself alone in the main hall of the Meduseld; she sat next to the fire pit and stared into the flames. She let her mind wonder, and for the first time, she let them wonder to Faramir. She had tried hard to not think of him, not wanting to have to think of the idea of him with someone else. She could not bare that thought, though she knew it had to be. She could see his eyes, his face, could hear his laugh. She became lost in her memories of him; she did not notice Arwen seat herself across from her.
It took some time before Éowyn noticed that she was not alone anymore. "Oh, my lady, I am sorry, I did not see you." Éowyn said when she noticed.
"It is nothing, you seemed to be concentrating very hard, and I did not mean to disturb you." Arwen replied.
"I was not concentrating on anything important, merely what has happened." Éowyn said.
"So much in such a short time. You begin to appreciate what you have or what you love."
Éowyn looked at her. "What if what you love is denied to you? How could you appreciate what you do not have?"
Arwen thought she knew what Éowyn meant. "By knowing that there are others who love the same thing, and will care for him if you can not. Sometimes we must give up what we love."
Éowyn thought about this. "It is so hard though, giving it up. Why is it that when I love someone they leave? The only person that I have loved that has not left me is my brother." Éowyn did not want to think about this anymore.
Arwen felt pity for Éowyn, but she also knew in her own heart that Aragorn could not love Éowyn, or else she would not be making this journey. "They do not mean to leave you, circumstances just drive people apart, or that the love you had was not returned."
"I know that it was returned, and everything felt right. And now I am here, where nothing feels right." She looked up at Arwen. "But you probably don't want to hear this, going to meet the one you love." Éowyn said.
Arwen was taken aback. "No, it is quite all right. The feeling of having love returned is wonderful, and knowing it. I know that Aragorn returns mine."
Éowyn stared at Arwen for a moment, taking in what she had said, and what she had not explicitly said. She felt like laughing for the first time in days. "You think that I love Aragorn?" She asked, mirth evident in her voice. Arwen nodded. "No, I love Faramir."
Arwen felt relieved. She knew not to trust what soldiers had said, knowing that they could tell half-truths at best sometimes. "Well, that is good to hear. Why are you and he not betrothed then?"
"My brother has notations about what is right for me, and seems to think that Faramir is not."
"We will see what can be done." Arwen said.
A/N: Ok, so this took longer than I thought. First, I had an inner debate about how to phrase things, and then I wrote a chapter that is far away (iPod shuffle made me! And if you friend my livejournal, you can see an excerpt from it /self-promotion ). And yeah, but this is the longest chapter yet. Also, sorry this mostly took place in Rohan, most of the next chapter will take place in Gondor. Yeah, so there you go. Thanks for reading and please review!
Responses:
Queen Arwen: Ha! I finished this! Oh, I know you would say that. And come to think of it, that is kind of brave, I don't know if I could do that either. Thanks for the review!
LadyArian: I don't know, but sometimes, people can be. Life is unfair, thanks for the review!
LiL Pippin Padfoot: Yes, they do get back together, soon. And Arwen is going to help with it now. Thanks for the review!
FARAMIR'S LOVE SLAVE: Yes! She can shag him. Thanks for the review! The lobsters arrived yesterday by the way.
Rana Ninque: (blushes at the compliment) Thank you. Sorry this took so long and thanks for the review!
Rebby-Eowyn: He does love his sister, but he also thinks he knows what is best for her. So, he does what he thinks is right. Sorry about the last chapter, this one is much longer. Thanks for the review!
And thank you to Bubble-Sheep, Blissful Rose, Sabishi Tomo, Rachel 791, and Ziroana for the wonderful reviews!
