"A secret to happiness is letting every situation be what is is, instead of what you think it should be."-Unknown

Chapter 17

This is what peace felt like. It had been so long since I had felt it to its fullest content. Since I was a much smaller lad, running through the halls of Meduseld with Eowyn, stealing sweets from the kitchens. Learning the sword from Theodred and the praise I would earn from my uncle when I spoke of it to him at evening meal. Mallory's face smiled down at me from the steps of the Golden Hall. Her arms as they wrapped around me and squeezed my waist gently. Eowyn was there, her face looking sour as usual, but she paid little mind to us as she made to tend to Aragorn and his party, his two small companions now rescued from their own hardships. Uncle fell from his horse and came from behind me, startling the woman I held.

"It does an old man's heart well to see one of his subjects at peace," he said to her. She looked up at me, asking with her eyes if it was alright to speak and I squeezed her hand.

"Thank you," she muttered "And thank you for your hospitality, my lord. The orphans of Aldburg will sleep in peace tonight."

"Soon will come a day when we may sleep in peace every night. Sister-son," He said, turning his head to mine. "Come with me. Advisors wait in my study."

"Uncle, we have only just arrived,"

"And there are many things we have to attend to in the dying day. How much will this feast cost our granary stocks? How will we house so many guests without knowing when they plan to depart? What crops can we grow the fastest to replenish our stocks and how many good men do we have to farm them?"

"This cannot wait until the morning?"

"No, Eomer, it cannot. We have had this conversation once but I see we must have it again. Your thoughts can no longer dwell on things that do not benefit Rohan unless she is strong enough without your direct aid. This is not yet the time."

"Uncle-,"

"No," I had begun to protest, but Mallory had cut off my words.

"I'll see you at the party," she said, giving me a small smile and running back up the stairs.

"She is not senseless, I will give her that," Theoden said, motioning for me to follow him into the Golden Hall as Mallory's figure disappeared through the doors ahead of us.

"And yet, you do not approve."

"It is not for me to approve, Eomer. You will learn that soon enough."

I did not see Eomer again until the party, and boy was it something. Song after song played from a band of instruments I had no names for. Music was something I had been missing from my former life and my feet tapped along with every note. Ale and wine flowed from barrels filling tankards and goblets alike. Food of delicacy followed me around the hall. Roast chicken, suckled pig, trout and salmon, honey buttered bread, fresh fruit, and cheeses I had no common tongue name for. My diet in Aldburg had consisted mostly of apples, grapes, root vegetables, grainy bread, and small game like rabbit. I had to remind myself to pace when it came to the rich food, else I throw up on a Rider's boots.

Eomer led me through the hall, introducing me to countless Riders he had known through his years of labor, though I retained none of their names. He led me through reels, helping me through the steps of the dances. And as the night progressed and Rohan's people slowly retired for their beds, we found our way out onto the terrace Meduseld.

"What is on your mind, min breostcea?"

"It's nothing."

He smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "You have never been a very good liar."

"It's just...the gifts, the gestures, the hospitality…"

"Yes?" he prompted.

"Well, Vanesse says it's all to...woo me." I couldn't have been more uncomfortable, but I knew that now, slightly drunk on wine and rich foods, would be the only time my awkward self would ever flat out ask him these things.

He laughed, grabbing my hand and leading me down stairs into the town center, the stars twinkling above us. "I would have thought that rather obvious."

"But I don't," I defended. "I don't know Rohan's customs. I don't know how you expect me to reciprocate."

"I could try to be aloof," he said. "Try and lead you through a courtship full of surprises and romance, but I do not think, in my current position that it would be fair to any woman, let alone one foreign to my country's culture."

His voice had grown serious now, less playful. "So, are you going to give me all the details, then?" I asked.

He sighed, running a hand through his braided hair. "I fear that if I do, you will run. I should have known you would not wait until the war was over. You are not one for waiting, dear Mallory."

"I can wait," I said, earning a sarcastic glance from him. "You know, until tomorrow."

I was glad that made him smile, even if it was just a little one. "When tomorrow could be the end in these uncertain times, I cannot leave these things to idle."

"Then tell me now."

"I am reluctant. I do not want to spoil what will probably have been my last good night until the end of this war."

"It's about your uncle, isn't it?"

"How did you know that?"

"I'm not blind, Eomer. I know he doesn't like me very much."

"It is not that he dislikes you. But, Mallory, things have changed since we were both in Aldburg last. Theodred has passed and in his passing I have inherited his title, his future."

"You're Theoden's heir."

"Do you know what that entails?"

I had to admit, that part of whatever this was growing into had escaped me, but thinking about it now, the answer was staring me right in the face. "You'll be King of Rohan someday."

"And the woman I wed will be queen."

"No one said anything about marriage," I said, maybe a little too quickly.

His eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not sure what kind of man you think me to be, Mallory, but I would hope our months of association would have cleared me of that tainted assumption."

"What assumption?"

"That I go around seducing women I do not intend to keep."

I shook my head. "That's not what I meant at all. But marriage...we hardly know each other."

"That is what courtship is for. But these uncertain times make all that rather difficult. And the future my cousin's death has brought me makes it all the more complicated."

Our walk had brought us back up the steps to the Golden Hall. Nearly everyone in the city had gone to bed. We remained awake for the solitude we could never get otherwise. "Is it possible," I whispered, nervous that this request would get me in trouble. "That we could possibly worry about all that when the war is over?"

"If it were that simple, I would agree, but there is no telling how long this war will take. It could be years of waiting ahead of us, possibly without courtship as I would be obligated to cater the battle."

"Why does it all have to be so complicated?"

"Because of this future I have mentioned more than once now. A future you have made no comment on, I might point out."

He was asking if I understood that pursuing this would mean the job "Queen" would be ahead of me. A future I never asked for, just like he had never asked to be King. I opened my mouth to answer, not knowing what would come out, but I was spared.

"Aaaahhhggghh!" a cry came from inside the hall.

Eomer's head shot up immediately. "Wait here," he said, gripping a knife in his hand pulled from his waist. He ran into the hall.

"Yeah right," I gasped, following him close behind.

He didn't have time to protest. A small form was thrashing on the floor of the hall, a black sphere gripped between his hands. He was smaller than me, by a couple feet, I assumed. They are...little men, I suppose. I have never met one. Boromir's voice came to me then from all those months ago. Halflings, he had called them. Or Hobbits. This little man must have been what Boromir had spoken of.

"Mallory, get back,'' Eomer said, making to crouch beside the Hobbit.

"What is he holding?" I asked as the Hobbit continued to thrash, but Eomer could not hear me over the little one's screams of agony.

"Master Pippin?" Eomer said, cautiously approaching him, reaching for the sphere.

"No, Eomer!" a voice cried from behind us. It was Gandalf, brandishing a white staff, which he used to knock the sphere out of the Hobbit's hands.

"Fool of a Took!" Gandalf yelled, throwing a cloth over the sphere as it rolled away. The Hobbit's eyes were bloodshot. "What did you see? Tell me, Peregrin Took!" the Wizard yelled.

"I saw...I saw him," the small form whispered.

"What did you say? Did you tell him of Frodo and the Ring?"

"He wanted me too, but I didn't, Gandalf, I swear." Tears were coming out of his eyes now. What he was saying sounded like nonsense to me until more of my conversation with Boromir surfaced in my mind. The Ring. Did he mean the One Ring from the legends? The legends of Sauron?

Gandalf closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Eomer," he said softly, his anger escaping him now. "Dawn draws in two hours. I will need to speak with your uncle. I will stay with Pippin until then."

With a nod of the head, Eomer turned back to me, our blissful night of dancing and drinking gone.

I guess the only good thing about COVID-19 is that people are reading my fanfiction again. I feel like I owe you guys an explanation on the very long (almost year) absence. So, I had taken a job with the YMCA in Indiana last April, but my contract ended in November of 2019. I decided not to renew my contract. The Midwest wasn't for me. I moved back to my home in North Carolina and moved in with my boyfriend and I got a job working as a teacher in a private Day Care. Moving 600 miles across the country, living with my boyfriend of 3 years for the first time, and changing my career path took a lot out on me and I took a break from writing. My job at the Day Care put me on a 14 day quarantine after someone in my boyfriend's office was diagnosed with coronavirus. As of today (Tuesday), I am halfway through said quarantine and have a completed outline for this story I still love so much. Again, I'm sorry for the long wait. I hope the updates coming will make up for it. If you're happy I'm back, let me know! I'd love to hear from some human beings, as I have been alone for a while.