The next morning, the servants readied our horses as we rubbed the sleep out of our eyes and dressed for the journey. My brothers stood with my horse, ready to say their farewells.

Erchirion and Amrothos hugged me and were solemn as they usually are, but I knew that they were upset. Elphir however, was in tears.

"Sweet sister." He kissed me on the forehead and then swept me up in his arms. In the rush of the moment, I started crying too. Elphir let me go. "There now, no need to get all emotional. We'll see each other again." He kissed me again and my other brothers came out of no where and hugged us both. They had broken down as well. I kissed each one in turn and then let them go.

"I have to go now." I blindly mounted my horse and didn't notice that Eomer sat beside me on his horse. He moved his horse closer and kissed me on the cheek, then took my hand and kissed that as well.

"It's alright, beautiful," he whispered into my ear.

I resisted the urge to fall into his arms as King Elessar started moving and the rest of us followed. After we cleared the drawbridge, Eowyn left Faramir and caught up with me.

"It's not easy leaving your brothers, is it, sister." I shook my head, not trusting my voice. "I felt the same way when I left Rohan to marry Faramir."

Arwen had also joined me. "And I when I left Rivendell to marry Elessar."

Eomer rode silently on my left. I looked over at him and then back at my horse. "Who will visit father's grave?"

"Your personal servant, like last time," Eomer said with a smile. I grinned, but said nothing. Eomer would let me come back home every year to visit father's grave and my brothers. My heart felt lighter as we continued our journey.

G----G

Lothiriel

My heart is heavy. My brothers are my world. I shall miss them greatly. I hope that my new life in Rohan will make me happy. Eomer has promised me that losing my brothers will not be that bad. I hope that he is right.

G----G

June 5, 3021 6:40 p.m.

Our journey brought us to Minas Tirith, a city I had not seen in years. As I looked up at the beautiful white tower, I almost fell off my horse.

"Curse this side saddle!"

Eomer came up beside me. "Why do you ride side saddle anyway?"

I was grumbling as I reset myself and almost snapped at him as I recited something that Glamdris had taught me. "A future queen must do everything perfect and must be ladylike all the time."

Eomer grabbed my reins. "Lothiriel, I don't expect you to be perfect, or ladylike all the time. And frankly, I don't want you to."

Eowyn came back for us. "Come on, slow pokes! We've come too far for you to stop now!" She turned around and Eomer started following her. When I didn't move, he turned around.

"We will talk on this later, my love. Come." I brought my foot in and my horse followed him.

It took us about half an hour to reach the top of the enormous white tower. My horse, Rilwen, was tired by the third level. I patted her neck and urged her on. Two levels later, we reached the top. I slid off of Rilwen and took the reins in my hand. Servants took everyone's horses, except mine, Eomer's and Eowyn's. We held fast to our reins and followed the servants into the stable. Rohan is the home of the Horse Lords. I think that explains it.

I took Rilwen into a stall and took her saddle off. She shook her head in thanks as I took the blanket off as well and picked up a brush. While she cooled down, I brushed her all over and combed the tangles out of her mane. I smiled as I braided her mane and remembered how I had gotten her two years ago. She was a horse of Rohan, a present from Eomer. She was white with a brown mask and a few brown spots on her back. I had named her Rilwen, which means in Elvish, Brilliance Maiden. She was cool enough after I finished her mane, so I gave her a bucket of water. She gulped it down gratefully and snorted. I tossed my head back and imitated her sounds, shaking my head back and forth. She shook her head as well, as if to laugh at me.

Eomer was next to me taking care of his horse. He saw our display and started laughing.

"Where did you learn how to take care of her?" he asked as he petted his horse's neck.

Eowyn peeked over her stall on my other side. "Etiquette isn't the only thing she learned in Rohan."

I scooped up some oats from a sack and let Rilwen eat them out of my hand. "Eowyn taught me."

"I can see that she taught you very well. Natives of Rohan never let a servant take care of their horses." He lifted his saddle onto the side of the stall. "It is our duty to them, because they serve us so well." He leaned against his horse and pet its nose. "Even the king does it."

I looked over at Eowyn who was making fun of Eomer by signaling that he was talking too much. I laughed and opened my stall door and latched it.

"Yes, brother. We all know how much you love horses." She joined me. "Don't even get him started on that. You'll be bored out of your mind." I giggled as Eomer closed his door and gave us a look. Eowyn took my hand. "Come on, sister. I have to show you your room."

She led me inside the dormitory part of the palace and stopped at a red cedar door. It was decorated with exquisite designs, typical of the Gondorian craftsmen. She pulled a key out of her hidden pocket and opened it.

She walked in and turned around. "Ta da!" I entered the room and immediately smelled flowers. "Do you like it?"

The room had flowers on every surface. Heather, lavender, morning glories, Simbelmynë, roses, and many that I didn't know the name of. The bed had a beautiful blue blanket on it and the canopy curtains were a beautiful silver. The rug on the floor had a white horse on it.

"It's beautiful, Eowyn!" I leaned over and sniffed some of the flowers by the bed.

"I know how much you like flowers, so I had the servants pick all different kinds." She walked over to the wardrobe. "This room is usually the one that Eomer sleeps in, so he's in the one that your brothers stay in when they visit." She pulled out a red dress. "And after you two are married, you will share the room."

I sat down on the bed. "How often will Eomer and I visit?"

"Eomer comes about every three months." She brought the dress to me. "Here, I had this made for you. It's for the feast tonight."

"Another feast?" I groaned and flopped down. "Feasts are running out of my ears!"

She laughed. "Just wait until you get married. Everywhere you go, the people there have to have a feast to celebrate." I laughed and picked the dress up. Eowyn began re-arranging some of the flowers as I changed into the dress behind the wardrobe door. After I got it on, she helped me lace it up in the back.

"Eowyn, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"It's about getting married."

"Go ahead."

I opened my mouth, but there was a knock at the door. She finished lacing my dress and opened the door. It was Eomer.

"Eowyn, can I borrow Lothiriel for a minute?"

She turned to me and I walked up to him. He took my hand and we walked down the hallway to a stone balcony. The sky was a dark blue as the sun set behind us.

He hesitated. "Lothiriel, you don't have to be perfect all the time."

"I was raised to be a queen. A queen represents perfection."

"Would you rather be my queen, or my wife?" His question shocked me. He turned away. "I'm sorry, Lothiriel. I didn't mean that." He gripped the top of the railing.

I came to him and touched his arm. "Eomer, I know you better than that. What is bothering you?"

"You were raised to be a queen. You know how to be that person. I was raised to be a Prince. The cousin of the king. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be king one day." I brought my hand up and stroked his shoulder blades. "I'm so afraid that I will mess up and hurt my people. I couldn't bear that." I touched his chin and moved his face to look at me.

"You are a great king, Eomer. You have the trust of your people. They don't teach that at King school."

He laughed. "They don't teach you how to woo a woman at Prince school either, and yet, here you are." Before I had finished laughing, he leaned over and planted a deep kiss on my lips. "I don't just need a wife, my love. I need a queen as well. Perhaps with you there to make sure that I don't mess up, we can rule my kingdom."

"A queen is never-" I stopped. It was time to forget all of the rules to being a queen. "That's sound perfect." I leaned against him and wrapped my arms around his chest.

He stroked my back. "Lothiriel, if Theodred had lived, would you have married him instead of me?"

"Elphir told me that in father's will, he left instructions that I was to marry the King of Rohan, whoever that may be. And if something should go wrong, I was to marry someone of noble blood in Gondor."

Eomer was silent. "That's a yes, isn't it."

I giggled and tickled his stomach. "I could've never loved Theodred the way that I love you."

He looked down at me. "You never even met him."

"I didn't want to meet him after I met you. I fell in love the instant I laid eyes on you." He smiled and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Iluvatar must've known what a hurricane of problems that would have resulted if Theodred had lived." He became silent so I changed the subject.

"I suspect that the feast has started already."

He groaned. "Must we?"

I laughed. "Unfortunately, we must."

He held out his arm. "My lady." I took it and he led me to the great hall.