Chapter 10: Breaking Away

Eos did not leave the Cottons for another week, since everyone had decided that she would not be moved until she was well again.

However, when she finally did recover, Frodo was grudging. He hated himself for it, but he wished Eos could stay with him for longer. He wanted her to be there for him to kiss and murmur endearments to every morning and every night. He wanted to hold her and sooth her nerves so that she needn't fear memories of her married life.

Berylla was coming with Pippin and a horse and cart to take Eos to the Great Smials. Rosie had been running around all day gathering things together for Eos to take with her. Frodo hated all the signs that said his love was leaving.

Crystal clearly felt the same way he did. She pouted and sulked all day, and further showed her displeasure by stomping on a pile of her books. She refused to lighten up when Frodo told her she might go to live with her mother again.

"Your mother is divorcing your father," he explained. "That means she isn't going to be married to him anymore. When she isn't married to him, you might go and live with her again."

"Where are all my books going to go?"

"You'll take them with you when you go to your mother."

"But then I won't see you," she whined, and stalked away.

Frodo sighed. Sorry, baby, we can't have everything. He retired to the main room with a book. He couldn't concentrate on it, though.

"Frodo?" Eos appeared in the doorway. "The cart is coming down the road."

He looked up. "Oh, really." He plastered his eyes to his book again.

"Well?" Eos came and knelt by his chair. "Aren't you going to at least say goodbye?"

He put down the book. It was no use. Frodo reached out and touched Eos's cheek. "Do you think I want to?" he asked softly. Her skin was so soft and smooth…

"Oh, Frodo." Eos held his hand against her cheek. "We're not parting forever. You promised to help me with my divorce, so we have to see each other."

"Yes, to prepare the papers and whatnot. Then I'll have to relinquish custody of Crystal."

"She'll be in my custody, but she should stay with you until I get myself together again. That is, getting everyone used to me again, and getting my shop back in business. You've been more a parent to her than Olo or me ever were."

Eos eased into Frodo's lap and held his face in her hands. She kissed his lips deeply, silently thanking him. Frodo could not resist her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and felt himself hardening. He moved down to scatter feathery kisses on her chin and neck. He wanted her so bad. Frodo reached down and found her ankle. He slid his hand up her leg, up, up, and up, to her calf, under her heavy winter skirt, to her knee, her white thigh, her lacy undergarment…

Eos moaned but pulled his hand away. "Not here, not now," she muttered raggedly.

"I just wanted to touch you," Frodo said into her neck.

"I wanted you to do that also," she replied, "But I have to go now, I hear Pip and Bell at the door."

Frodo heard voices too. They shared a lingering kiss one more time, and Frodo led Eos to the foyer, where he took her (new) cloak and wrapped it around her. "Keep warm," he said, awkwardly.

"I'll try," Eos said, not seeming to notice the randomness of his statement. "Oh, and Frodo, come to Berylla's smial, where I'm staying, anytime next week if it's after five. That's when I close my stall."

"Of course." Frodo kissed her cheek. Berylla and Pippin came in to take her to the cart.

Five minutes later, when Eos looked back at the Cottons' hole, Frodo's silhouette was still at the door, watching her go.

Two days later, Frodo was looking for Olo Bracegirdle's prison cell. The guard, cheery Sigismond Boffin, was helping him through the maze of bars, stone walls, and hay-covered floors.

"How did a person with a disposition such as yours end up in this profession, Sigismond?" Frodo asked, looking at the haggard ruffians in one cell. "Does it ever make you miserable?"

"Aye, sometimes, Mr. Baggins, but there's got to be someone to keep the convicts in, ain't there?" The guard turned to him. "Was there something you wanted to suggest?"

"Yes, there actually is. Keep the place clean."

"Aye, sir, that we will. Here, Mr. Baggins, right here."

There was Olo Bracegirdle, sitting with his head bent in his cell, which was very small and damp smelling. It could only fit a bed, a bench, and a chamber pot. Sigismond rapped on the bars.

"Oy, Barcegirdle! It's Mr. Baggins come to see you."

Olo looked up. A look of deepest loathing crossed his face. "Mad Baggins? Tell him to get his arse out of this place! Why should I see him when he's shamed me?"

"The Deputy Mayor's got important news for you, that's why. Now do cooperate, or I'll give an extra hour of exercise period tomorrow." The guard unlocked the door and admitted Frodo inside. Frodo felt the door clang behind him and shivered.

Olo glared at him. "What d'you want, Deputy Mayor?" he sneered.

"I just want to tell you that your wife has returned to the Shire, that is all, Mr. Bracegirdle."

Olo's eyes widened. "Eos? That wench of my wife? Where'd she run off to?"

"She went to Bree, apparently to recover her sanity, Mr. Bracegirdle."

"Sanity? That little chit is a liar! She probably spent her time whoring all the Big Folk in Bree!"

Frodo fought an expression of distaste. "Evidence proves otherwise, sir. But that is past the point, for I have not come to accuse you. I must tell you that your wife is moving for a divorce, and you will be asked to sign some papers…"

"Papers? I won't sign no papers! I was never spoken to about any divorce!"

"My apologies," said Frodo sincerely but coldly. "The law states that if one spouse is dissatisfied with the marriage, the other must cooperate."

"You…" Olo could barely speak from anger. "You took my daughter away from me! You made the complaint! And you've probably bedded my wife about, what, ten times? You will pay for leaving my life in ruins, Baggins, I swear!"

I would not make an oath so fast if I knew how far your wife has come, thought Frodo. But he said nothing. He left the cell, leaving Olo shouting obscene curses from behind.

What did he care about Olo's threat? He was going to see Eos this afternoon!

"Can I go see Ma too?" Crystal whined.

"No, sorry, Crystal," said Frodo. "Even if you go you won't be able to spend a lot of time with her. Your ma and I are going to be talking to each other very much, so we'll be busy."

"Oh, are you going to be talking about divorcing?"

Frodo smiled. Clever girl. "Yes, we are. So be a good girl until I come back."

"When will you come back?"

"After supper. Your mother and I have lots of talking to do."

"That's a long time," pouted Crystal.

"Well, baby, when you get older you'll see what a long time really is." Frodo put on his cloak with the mallorn leaf broach. Memories of Lothlorien came back to him for a moment. Then he noted Crystal's stick of malt candy, which she was sucking on.

"Don't eat too much malt candy, Crystal, you'll spoil your afternoon tea."

Crystal pouted at him again. Frodo laughed, and pulled the little girl close. "Rosie's going to be frying potatoes. You don't want to be full before that, do you?"

The girl brightened. "Will you be back for reading time?"

"Yes, I'll be back for reading time." He kissed the top of her head and she marched off to her room with a book under her arm.

When Frodo arrived at Berylla's smial, Eos opened the door. Upon seeing Frodo, she threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly. "What took you so long? It's not very long to walk from Bag End to the Smials."

"Your daughter was begging to me to bring her along. She wanted to see you very much, Eos." Frodo put his arms around her waist.

Eos hung her head remorsefully. "I know I should be spending more time with Crystal, Frodo, but I can't get over her face when she saw me. She looked so happy, she didn't know I'd abandoned her. I can't stand to think how she will be when she finds out."

"There will be a time to tell her," said Frodo. "But now is not the time to regret. Soon, you will no longer be Mrs. Bracegirdle, but in order for that to happen, you must work with me, and get those thoughts out of your mind."

They went to the kitchen together. Frodo stood behind Eos as she prepared their luncheon.

"I went to see Olo today to tell him about the divorce. He wasn't too happy, to say the least."

"I'm not surprised. Olo always was possessive of his women, even if he wasn't married to them. He'd even beat his whores if they even looked at other men." Eos chuckled. "At least those women kept him away from me a while. He'd only go to bed with me if he had no other women for the night." Her grin slowly faded. "Poor, wretched Olo. One feels almost sorry for him. Imagine taking pleasure in nothing but drink, smoke, and women."

Frodo came up behind her and put his arms around her. "My dear Eos. Surviving ten years of all that and still able to pull yourself together," he marveled. His face became pensive, and he rested his head on Eos's shoulder. "Me, I went on a journey for just thirteen months, and I can't seem to find a way out of the pain." Eos looked at him, surprised.

"I know I don't look it, Eos, while I'm with Crystal and playing and reading with her and all. But when I'm alone at night, in the dark, I become so afraid of the shadows. I've been in the dark quite a bit on the Quest, and all that time, I had to be aware of things lurking in the night. I just get so afraid that in a forgotten corner of the room, there was a hole through which some creature could get in. And yet I didn't want to light a candle just in case, because somewhere along the way on my journey… something happened that made me nervous around fire. All these little fears that I never had before have rubbed off on me. The only way I can escape from them is… is to think about being with you, to imagine being in bed with you and holding you close to me." Here Frodo and Eos both blushed slightly. Eos put her hands over his, and turned her head to bury her face in his sweet-smelling curls.

Frodo had thought of being in bed with her. Eos felt her thighs twitch. That was just what she had wanted for a while. One of her hands reached up to encircle his chin and cheek. "Have you told anyone else all this yet?" she asked, deciding to hold off the subject for now.

"No. You're the first one I've talked to about the Quest in that way."

"In that case, I'm quite flattered." Eos turned in his arms to face him. "If you'd told me earlier, maybe I would have done something about it." She pushed the hint by kissing him deeply, nudging her tongue between his lips.

"You'd better not let that bread burn," Frodo muttered against her mouth.

"Good idea," Eos replied and went on with her task, still moving around in her lover's arms. When she had finished with her task, they went to the large sitting room, hand in hand. There, they pored over the huge law books Frodo had brought with him as they ate. Meanwhile, Frodo wrote down a few notes as they worked.

Surprisingly, Eos still was as good a cook as ever. "Women can't afford to forget anything," she teased Frodo when he noted this. "I once hated cooking, you know. But after living a hand to mouth existence in Bree, coming back to the kitchen was like coming home again. I could make the food as bad as I wanted or as good as possible." She smiled to herself. "You see, coming home was the first time I had control over my life in years. Before, everything was planned for me in my cradle and I was persuaded to think that all of my parents' plans were the right thing for me. Maybe, when this mess is all over, my family will give me what I want." Eos looked up at Frodo. He was picking up his pen to jot down some more notes.

"You aren't going to use that in the documents, are you?" she asked, cocking her head.

"No, I'm not. But I was listening." Frodo reached out to grasp her hand. " And perhaps this divorce will show the whole clan something. To leave one's spouse is one thing, but to end the marriage all together is quite another. A divorce is no small thing in the Shire."

"I've heard that a million and one times now. And mostly it comes from my father."

"I thought he'd already owned up to his mistake."

"That he has. I just think he can't stand having a match he'd spent years arranging fall apart all of a sudden."

"I think so too. Poor Uncle Adelard. This may not be what you want to hear, but I really do think he thought the marriage was the best for you and the family's relations."

"Well then, maybe he should have known the Bracegirdles better before acting." Eos stood up to clear the plates. "Being hasty has already ruined a handful of lives, including that of my daughter."

"You don't sound very forgiving toward your father," Frodo quietly observed.

"You're beginning to sound like my sisters," Eos returned.

"Really? So you generally are unforgiving," said Frodo, slightly amused.

Eos went to him and held his face in her hands. "I don't mean to be that way, Frodo. I'm sorry if I seem awful to you. I want people to know what I need, that's all."

Frodo pulled her into his lap. "No matter how you are, I could never think you are awful. I fear I can never stop loving you no matter what." He kissed her gently. "You know I love you, don't you?"

Eos thought for a moment, then said, "I'm afraid not. I don't think I'll be quite sure until you love me – properly."

Frodo's eyes widened. "You don't mean – " Eos silenced him with a kiss that was the polar opposite of chaste.

Frodo broke the kiss, panting. He did his best to hold back the love-crazed creature in his lap. "Eos – " Eos dove for his neck, covering it with licks and nips. "Eos, the ink on your divorce is far from dry! Are you sure?"

Eos picked at one of his shirt buttons. "It's what you want, isn't it? Not two hours ago, you said that at night you imagined what it would be like. Anyway, if we go ahead, I can take my revenge on Olo, you can have a nighttime memory, and we both won't be stuck stealing kisses here and there."

Frodo expected her to dive at him again, but she didn't. She just curled up in his lap and snuggled closer to his chest. He sighed. She was beautiful, wild or gentle.

She shifted her head to kiss his neck and nuzzle it softly. She felt him hardening against her skirts and laughed nervously. He was groaning in the effort to control his desire, for Eos had him in her grip. His hands went to her bodice fastenings and slowly undid them. He then unbuttoned her blouse and shift and slipped them off her shoulders, leaving her breasts bared. They were not large, but full and round. Frodo took hold of one and slowly stroked the nipple with his thumb, causing it to harden. His hand moved to the other one, exploring it in the same manner. Eos moaned and ripped off his jacket and waistcoat, chewing on one of his earlobes. She opened the buttons of his shirt until his nipples were within reach, and rubbed her hands against them. The two groaned loudly. Frodo's mouth went to her collarbone, and journeyed down until it was level with her breasts. He kissed the round silky flesh passionately and sucked and nipped at the taut brown peaks. He was just reaching under her skirts when Eos stopped him.

"Not…here," she gasped. "I'd prefer it if we went to bed where we can lie down on something soft."

"Alright," Frodo purred. He picked her up in his arms. "Just tell me where to go."

"Second to last door at the right," Eos commanded. "And don't worry about the bodice. Leave it."