Éomer looked so baffled by Lothíriel's question, it was all she could do to keep from laughing. She heard Éowyn giggling beside her before speaking.
"Oh brother," Éowyn sighed, "in a combat situation you are at your peak, but with Lothíriel here, you seem to have met your match."
"I don't see what you mean." Éomer chose to look away from Lothíriel as he spoke to his sister. "I merely didn't realize that I had offended the princess."
"Well," Lothíriel sat a little straighter in her seat, "in the interest of not being underestimated, I will disclose to you some of my skills." She leaned forward with a small smile. "Along with speaking Westron and all the elven tongues, I am also fluent in Khuzdûl, conversational Haradric, and Rohirric – as you just saw – as well as being able to read old Adûnaic texts." She leaned back, watching as Éomer's face studied her. She felt a bit of satisfaction at surprising the indomitable king.
"I wonder, if after everything that has occurred between us, this boasting is made in an attempt to impress me." Éomer spoke under his breath. Lothíriel coughed in surprise.
"Impress you!" She stood, standing over him by a few inches. "I have no need to impress you or anyone here." Her tone grew more formal. "I am Princess Lothíriel of Dol Amroth and Gondor. If indeed you are impressed it can be little more than expected." She stared down at him with a cool expression for a few seconds before sitting with a huff. "Impress, how absurd." She mumbled.
"Why else would you choose to boast of your intelligence?" Éomer queried. "It's true that in Rohan honesty is valued, but actions are what truly rules the day here, not pointless preening and boasting. And if it were in the aims to secure yourself a husband –" Lothíriel held up a hand, cutting off Éomer.
"Before you get ahead of yourself, know this. I am the daughter of a wealthy prince in a peaceful nation. Not only that, but I have three older brothers who all are rather fond of me if I were to believe their claims. I have no need to find myself a husband, and even if I did, I would not force myself on anyone by flattering myself or by producing claims I could not act upon." She could feel her face heating along with her indignation. "Do not think yourself so mighty and irresistible to look down your nose at me, sire!" She stood again and this time she stepped away from the table and marched off.
"I was right, you've met your match," she heard Éowyn say behind her. Lothíriel didn't pay her any mind, instead choosing to march on. The pace she set was faster than she probably should have, because it wasn't long before her side began to ache. She slowed a bit and eventually she passed the gate of Edoras.
The road up leading to Meduseld looked uncommonly steep in her tired state, so she instead elected to lean on a nearby building until she caught her breath. She was only just starting to feel better when a group of men were passing by. They staggered and swayed so much that Lothíriel could tell immediately that they were drunk. She tried to make herself smaller so they could move past her, but it seemed impossible as soon as one of them noticed her.
"Good day, mistress." One of them hiccuped. He came closer to her until Lothíriel could smell the alcohol on his breath. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here all alone?"
"She probably got lost in the city and is waiting to be found by her party." The second slurred through the words making it seem as though it wasn't a sentence he had spoken but a single, very long word.
"We could keep you company in the mean time." The third, and final man grinned.
"That's unnecessary gentlemen, I simply –" Lothíriel stated, scooting along the wall towards the open road. The first man put his hand against the wall, cutting off her escape.
"Gentlemen?" The first laughed heartily. "You heard that? Guess we're upright men according to a Gondorian wench."
"Now see here," Lothíriel tried again before being cut off a second time.
"Don't be cross with us mistress," the second chuckled. "We just don't think it right and proper to leave a little thing like you alone on such a day as this."
"She is not alone." Lothíriel felt relief as she heard Éomer's commanding tone and the three men turned suddenly. In their haste, two of the three drunkards knocked each other over and tumbled to the ground. The one left standing bowed in a swaying motion.
"Éomer King!" He followed the title with a belch though his face reddened in embarrassment. "We meant no disrespect."
"Surely," Éomer had his arms crossed over his chest. "Take your friends and dip your heads in a trough. If you are so drunk this early in the day that you think it wise to corner not only a woman but a guest at that, then perhaps you've had too much than is good for you." The men nodded and scurried off towards what Lothíriel hoped was indeed a water trough.
"Thank you for your assistance, but I could have managed." Lothíriel pursed her lips.
"As I saw." Éomer dropped his arms. "Why are you standing against this house?"
"I was out of breath for a moment, that's all." Lothíriel waved her hand dismissively. "You should go back to your sister and the other festivities. I'll just head back to Meduseld and rest before the end of the day."
"Did you hurt yourself?" Éomer sounded concerned.
"I'm fine, truly." She pushed herself away from the wall and an involuntary grunt escaped her throat, belying her words. In a smooth motion, Éomer stepped forward and scooped Lothíriel up in his arms. "What are you doing?" She looked up at him in shock.
"It would be dishonorable for me, as your host, to not make sure you made it to my hall without further injuring yourself." He stepped out of the shade of the building and began to walk steadily up the hill.
A/N: Another chapter done! Just to be clear for those of you who are just casual readers and don't spend nearly every free moment researching different things about middle earth, Khuzdûl is the language of the dwarves and Adûniac is the dead language which evolved into Westron, so it's kind of like Anglo-Saxon English (at least that's what I think).
Hope you guys enjoyed. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!