A/N: AggieVGirl brought it to my attention that I had not "officially" attended to the matter of Freahelm still being part of Rohan's army (he was never released, just assigned to Theodred during his travels). Rather than have our dear boy be a deserter and have to face charges of being AWOL, I have rectified that situation here. Not that any of us truly thought Eomer was going to raise a fuss, but it is always best to tie up these loose ends! Thanks for keeping me on my toes!

The Adventures of Theodred, Son of Eomer

Chapter 19 (Sept, 45 IV)

"You wished to see me, Uncle?" Freahelm asked, poking his head into Faramir's study.

Although there was no familial connection between the young man and the Steward, after all the time he had spent in Faramir's household, neither Faramir nor Eowyn had wished for him to continue calling them "my lord" and "my lady". Freahelm was not comfortable becoming completely informal with them, and so they had managed to reach a compromise. Calling them simply "Uncle" and "Aunt" was formal enough for Freahelm, and informal enough for them, as well as satisfactory to them all.

"Yes, Freahelm. Come in." Faramir waved him to a chair. "I hear you have good tidings – Belwen has consented to be your wife."

Freahelm blushed and nodded. "I meant to tell you, but in the hustle and bustle of everyone returning all at once, I guess it got overlooked. We have not yet fixed a date, but I am to work with Gimilzor in the bakery, and will continue living here in Minas Tirith. I went home last month to tell my family, and King Eomer was good enough to release me from my place in the army, and as Theodred's guard."

Faramir nodded, and then commented, "Surprisingly enough, Theodred does not so have his head in the clouds over his own lady that he has neglected to tell me about some of your difficulties. I am assuming he has not broken any confidences in doing so, and I think perhaps I may be of some assistance to you."

Quirking an eyebrow questioningly, Freahelm waited for him to continue.

Folding his hands together, Faramir leaned forward across his desk, explaining, "Theodred says you need a house. He did not know very much about what your precise circumstances will be, but perhaps you do not mind telling me."

"I am not sure that I am able to just yet. Things are still unsettled. I do not know much about the bakery, or what sort of income I can expect from working there, so I do not know what I can afford to pay for a house. I will still have some income from breeding Pyttewan, but…well, it is all very complicated, and I fear I am in over my head. I was a soldier, and not much schooled in business matters," Freahelm confessed sheepishly.

"Perhaps not," Faramir reassured, "but you have friends who have somewhat more knowledge in such things. Here is what I propose, and you may discuss this with Gimilzor, or bring him here to speak with me also; I have certain properties, within the city and elsewhere, that I usually rent out. Normally they are occupied and not available but, as it happens, one was being rented by an elderly gentleman who just recently passed away, leaving it vacant. He had lived there quite a number of years, so I am sure that the place will need to be worked on before I let it out again to someone else, but it should certainly be large enough for you, and a family that will eventually come. In fact, it will likely be too large. If you do not object, you may want to consider having Gimilzor and Thandwen live there also, to save the expense of what they are presently paying where they now live and put it toward rent on this place, particularly since the rent is likely more, despite my giving you a good deal. Another advantage is that this house has a nice stable attached to it, large enough for several horses, though if you modify it to do breeding there in the stable, it will likely hold fewer horses. Still, that will make it more convenient for you to continue that source of income, and if you obtain more horses, through purchase or gift, you may be able to expand your operation."

Freahelm sat silently staring at his hands, more than a little overwhelmed at this generous offer. At length, he said quietly, "Uncle, I do not expect you to–"

"This is not charity, Freahelm. I am, perhaps, giving you first consideration because of my undue fondness for you" – he gave the young man a teasing grin – "but this is a business deal, and I will offer you reasonable terms. And, if you should take it upon yourself to occasionally favor me with a cinnamon roll or two, when no one is watching, I will not consider it a bribe…"

They both burst out laughing simultaneously, and the tension was eased. "Thank you," Freahelm told him sincerely.

"Discuss this with Gimilzor and see if he wishes to have me look at his books, and then take the both of you to see the house. Then we will all have a better idea of whether or not this will even be a workable solution for you. But it is at least something to be considered, and I thought it worth mentioning before I made any other arrangements regarding the property." Standing, Faramir moved around the desk, and as Freahelm also rose, he pulled the young man into an embrace. "You have become like a son, or a nephew, to me. It is a pleasure to be able to assist you in getting started in life. And you will always be welcome in my home, even after you are wed – unless Eowyn finds out about the cinnamon rolls, that is. She claims I am getting thick around the middle and need to watch what I eat!" He grinned guiltily, rubbing at his stomach, and they both laughed again.

xx

With the festivities of Yaviere not far off, Minas Tirith was beginning to quickly fill with visitors. A week before the celebrations began, a large party from Rohan appeared on the horizon. The escort encamped on the Pelennor, while the royal couple entered the city, along with their friends, Eothain and Zimraphel.

Elphir and his family were in town also, and the Dol Amroth townhouse was full with guests from the south. Elessar and Arwen had room for Eomer and Lothiriel, while Faramir and Eowyn were happy to accommodate Freahelm's parents. Thus settled, Freahelm's family set about becoming acquainted with their soon-to-be in-laws, and quickly took a shine to the lovely girl who had won their son's heart.

It had been determined that, with some effort, the bakery could make enough to afford the rent on the house Faramir was offering to them, and Gimilzor had agreed to the terms. As there was both an upper and lower floor to the building, it was decided that Freahelm and Belwen could live upstairs, and Gimilzor and Thandwen downstairs, thus affording the couple some privacy.

As Theodred was making more use of Scildan, he was less available for breeding, and thus as a source of income. Knowing that, Eomer had chosen to bring a stallion and a mare along as wedding gifts for the couple. The two horses would provide additional breeding capability to supplement their income from the bakery, and Freahelm was actually relieved that he would continue to have active contact with horses during his lengthy stay in the city. He could survive his time within these stone walls so long as he had some decent horseflesh nearby.

At first, Belwen had found her prospective father-in-law rather intimidating, not unlike Freahelm had been upon first meeting him, but it was soon evident that he was just as warm and gentle as his son, despite his bear-like appearance. It was not difficult at all to like his mother, and she quickly felt perfectly at ease with the small woman. Moreover, it was nice to have a 'mother' again, to be with her as she prepared for marriage. She had missed her own mother many times over the years, but she had been feeling the loss keenly since her betrothal, and to have this woman take her in hand was both reassuring and heartwarming.

Theodred had not been expecting his parents' arrival at Minas Tirith, but certainly he was not displeased by it. The sudden developments in his association with Esgalmir were such that he welcomed the opportunity to introduce her to them. While he had been at Edoras earlier in the year, he had spent some time speaking of her to his mother, but at the time, he had assumed nothing beyond a friendship existed. Now that he saw Esgalmir with new eyes, there was so much more he wished to confide to his mother, and he felt certain of Lothiriel's approbation.

Though Esgalmir was thoroughly comfortable with Theodred and, after all she had heard of his family, could not imagine disliking his parents, she was still mildly terrified at the prospect of meeting them. Theodred was aware of her nervousness about the matter and tried to think what might be the best way to accomplish it so as to be the least alarming for her. He finally decided to make use of the house Faramir had offered to Freahelm, sending his parents there in advance. The house was being worked on, receiving fresh paint and having some repair work done, and shortly after they had set out, Theodred retrieved Esgalmir from the stationery shop, offering a weak excuse for luring her away from work.

Theodred was not terribly surprised to discover his father was in the stables, directing activity there, and his mother was supervising servants working in the main part of the house. Shaking his head in amusement, he caught Esgalmir by the waist and guided her forward to introduce his mother. He felt her tense under his hand as she attempted a curtsy, "My lady!"

Lothiriel smiled perceptively at the young woman, and then chastized her son, "You did not warn her you were bringing her to meet me, did you, dearest? For shame!"

She moved in close and embraced Esgalmir warmly. "Do not be distressed, my dear. He is a terrible tease, my youngest, but I am delighted to finally meet you." She pressed a kiss to the woman's head. "I assume he has also not told you that you will be meeting his father, the king. Do not be alarmed. He is no more fearsome than I am, though he does sometimes try to appear so."

Esgalmir could not restrain a smile at the comment, which she tried to hide. Stepping to her right side, Lothiriel linked Esgalmir's arm through her own and began moving toward the door to the stables. "Come. I will introduce you to Eomer myself. You cannot possibly be afraid of a man I have seen wearing a skirt."

Esgalmir gave a choking gasp at this remark; amused, curious, shocked – but certainly not frightened any longer. Lothiriel's words had the desired effect. When she came face to face with the king of Rohan, indeed an impressive man, she could not find him intimidating, though she certainly could not envision him in a skirt either! Perhaps one day she would work up the nerve to inquire further into that story! If the truth be known, the king of Rohan was really quite charming, and she could truthfully say that she liked him a great deal. She liked both of Theodred's parents, and she was grateful that he had let her meet them in a private setting rather than where others were watching.

They spent a good hour chatting and becoming better acquainted, and she discovered that the queen was quite an astute woman. Though there was much that Esgalmir left unsaid about her life, she got the distinct impression that Lothiriel read between the lines quite well, and would not be at all surprised at what she found when she met Esgalmir's brother.

Much as Esgalmir disliked the idea, there was no avoiding introducing Theodred's parents to Anbarad. It was still necessary to set a formal betrothal in place. Two days after Esgalmir's meeting with them, a note was sent informing Anbarad that the king and queen would be calling on him the following morning.

Not being aware when they arrived in Minas Tirith that Theodred had found a bride, Eomer and Lothiriel had not traveled prepared to make marriage arrangements, and so had no one with them for such purposes. They had sent to Edoras for someone just after arrival, but it was too soon for him to make the journey yet. Even so, they could begin the preliminary part of things by making this visit.

Anbarad, of course, did not wish the king of Rohan to know that his son's wife was made to work for a living, so Esgalmir was kept home from the shop that day to be on hand for the visit. Already, he had made her change her dress for one he considered finer looking, and was presently trying to get her to fix her hair differently when the servant announced the arrival of the royal couple and their son.

Shifting nervously, Anbarad hurried eagerly to the parlor doorway and Esgalmir fought to conceal a smirk at his behavior. She doubted very much the royals of Rohan would be taken in by her brother's sycophant attitude.

A moment later, Lothiriel swept into the room, followed by the king striding purposefully along. Anbarad bowed fawningly before them. "Your majesties! It is such an honor to have you in my home!" His wife was looking quite awed by the whole thing, and executed a stiff curtsy, but stayed silent.

Smiling warmly, Lothiriel moved straight to Esgalmir and took her hands, kissing her cheek. "How good to see you again, dearest!" Eomer was smiling at her also, then turned and gave Anbarad a curt nod of greeting and plunked down on a small couch. Lothiriel moved over to sit beside her husband and Esgalmir took a seat in a nearby chair. Theodred went to stand behind his parents, casting surreptitious glances at Esgalmir when no one was looking. For a moment, Anbarad and his wife stood staring at the royal couple, at a loss for what to do next. Then, scooping up a tray of finger sandwiches, Anbarad's wife offered them to the couple. As it was just mid-morning, Esgalmir had suggested sandwiches might not be the best refreshment, but had been ignored, and, predictably, they were declined, to the hosts' dismay.

Clearing his throat, Eomer announced, "We cannot stay long, as Elessar is expecting us shortly, but we did want to stop in and make your acquaintance. We had the opportunity to meet Esgalmir the other day and are most impressed with your sister, Anbarad. She is a delightful young woman. I can see why my son has come to love her."

Anbarad gave a weak smile in response, but before he could comment, Eomer added, "I have sent for one of my Aides, and he will go through the actual negotiations with you, as he knows how we do things in Rohan. We do have certain requirements for anyone who marries into the royal family. I am sure you understand that."

Anbarad nodded uncertainly, not at all clear about what might be expected. He had been hoping to come out ahead with his sister marrying a royal, but then this was a royal of Rohan. He was not exactly sure how that differed…

Eomer smiled inwardly watching the turning of mental wheels reflected in the man's eyes. He had the man off-balance, and he fully intended to keep him there. If he thought to use this marriage for personal gain, he was sorely mistaken.

Now that the initial volley had been made, it was time to strategically retreat. And Lothiriel knew just how to start things moving.

"Lord Anbarad, can you possibly spare your dear sister for a month or so to come to Edoras as my companion, so I may get to know her better? Once she and Theodred are wed, they will be spending a great deal of their time in Minas Tirith, and I will not have much opportunity to become closer acquainted then. At my age, it is so difficult to get around," Lothiriel smiled disarmingly at him.

Eomer suddenly developed a severe coughing fit, and Theodred fell to earnestly thumping his father on the back, though mostly as a means to hide his own amusement.

Anbarad was torn between the horror that the King of Rohan seemed about to expire in his parlor, and the mortification that he was neglecting to properly attend the Queen while being thus distracted. The simplest solution seemed to be to grant the Queen whatever she wished so he could focus on the King's needs, so he hastily did. "Of course, Your Majesty! Whatever you wish! She may stay in Rohan however long you like!"

"Excellent!" Lothiriel responded. With an evil grin, she turned to her husband and said, "Eomer, do stop that dreadful coughing. It is most annoying, dearest, and quite disruptive to conversation. Come. Let us be going. Elessar is waiting." And with that, she swept toward the door, leaving Anbarad wide-eyed and gaping. Eomer wasted no time in striding after her, anxious to get out of the man's sight before he totally lost control and burst into laughter. Oh, he did love to watch Lothiriel run roughshod over pompous noblemen! She was such an artisan!

The royal trio made it as far as a small public garden on the fifth level before succumbing to their laughter. Eomer snared his wife by the waist from behind, sliding her hair out the way and planting a kiss on her neck. "Beloved, you were magnificent! More and more I am inclined to think we made a grave tactical error during the War in not merely sending you after the Great Eye! Surely he would have been brought low far sooner!"

Theodred watched in amusement as the two chuckled together at Eomer's feigned awe of his wife, though all three knew the high esteem in which he held her was very real. He smiled as his parents cuddled together lovingly, completely unembarrassed that anyone might come upon them.

Oh, how very grateful he was that Kata had fallen in love with Arawine and disrupted his convenient plans. The unexpected passion he felt for Esgalmir was so much more worth nurturing for a lifetime; the same passion that his parents shared. He could not imagine why he had ever considered settling for less.

After several moments, his mother glanced up at him and said, mildly apologetically, "I hope I was not too high-handed, dearest. Perhaps I should have consulted with you before commiting Esgalmir to such a lengthy stay in Edoras, but after meeting her brother, I could not leave her in that house a moment longer. Shall you be able to keep busy in Rohan through the winter, until you are wed?"

He moved forward, and his father relinguished Lothiriel for Theodred to take her into his embrace, saying into her shoulder, "I shall keep plenty busy, Mother. And I thank you for what you did. Anbarad might have balked had I attempted such a thing, but it angered me also to leave her there, under his thumb, like some common servant rather than his own sister. But who can resist the Queen of Rohan when she sets her mind to something!"

They all broke into laughter once more and continued on their way toward the Citadel, in agreement that it had been a most satisfactory morning.

xx

When Esgalmir joined them later, she was looking unsure about what had taken place at her brother's home. Seeming to sense her trepidation, Lothiriel approached her and smiled. "Do not be alarmed, dearest. The barbarian queen from the north is not taking you captive! You are coming as my guest, but when you leave Anbarad's house, leave nothing behind that is dear to you. Unless you choose to return, you will not be doing so. I dare say I can find ample excuses for you to remain at my side until you are wed to Theodred, unless you desperately wish to return to your brother's household. There are certain advantages to being queen, and I have no qualms about making use of them when I find it necessary or worthwhile to do so. You have lived as a servant long enough. It is time the 'hidden treasure' lived as the cherished family member she should always have been."

Esgalmir's heart nearly stopped beating within her at the queen's words, and her throat painfully constricted. Never before had anyone shown her such kindness. She wanted desperately to embrace this woman and weep gratitude into her shoulder, but surely such would not be proper behavior with a queen. Ah, but this was the queen of Rohan, and not to be underestimated. With a warm smile, Lothiriel reached for her and enveloped her in her arms, holding her until her tears eased. As the woman slowly began to pull back, somewhat embarrassed, Lothiriel smiled down and pressed a kissed to her head, whispering, "No, Anbarad did not value the treasure he had all these years, and now he has lost you. We will not be returning you to him."

THE END

7-2-06

Yaviere – the harvest feast of Gondor

END NOTE:

Keep in mind that none of the Elfwine Chronicles really ends. "The End" really only refers to Adv. of Theodred, and in going back to reread ch. 1, I realized that this was an appropriate place to conclude his "adventures". He started this whole thing sort of wandering aimlessly along trying to find himself. Now he has a direction in life and has found love - the two things he was most seeking.

Will there be more to his life story? Absolutely, and just like the other children of E/L, there will be more stories told about them (and there are already more stories in the works about these two). However, the other stories I wanted to tell about them didn't seem to fit under the umbrella of "Adv. of Theodred", so I decided to conclude the storyline of #78 here and you will get more in other "episodes".

So, yes, you will see more Esgalmir, just as you have/will see more of all the other spouses of E/L's children.

- Deandra