As Éomer had expected, Imrahil insisted on organising a farewell party for the King of Rohan the day before he'd depart for Rohan. He had been on the road for some weeks now and Éothain's nagging was really starting to get kind of frustrating. Not to mention he felt he had caused quite enough commotion in Dol Amroth already, and those comments on what a beautiful singing voice he had were really becoming exhausting.

What he had not expected was that the farewell party would take place on a ship.

Apparently, no self-respecting noble family this close to the sea could live without a proper yacht – a vessel that was not designed for wars or speed, but rather for short excursions made simply for pleasure and entertainment. And what was a better place for a farewell party than a ship on a sea? Always trust Gondorians to come up with madness like that. But then, if that was what Imrahil wanted, then he'd get it, and Éomer would play the well-behaved king. After all, the Prince had given his consent, and the young king did not want to give his friend any reason to think maybe that had been a poor decision.

It did not mean he wasn't concerned about some things, though. When he voiced his concern whether the farewell party would be as grand as the ball had been, Imrahil had lifted his hand calmingly.

"Oh, not at all. I believe I'll be able to cut the amount of guests to half, and there won't be any dancing this time", said the Prince. He smiled, "and I should also think it would be a good occasion for you to make the happy announcement, or what do you say?"

Happy announcement indeed, Éomer thought to himself, if there was anything to announce.

When he had gone to talk with Imrahil about the possibility of marriage between him and Lothíriel, the Prince had seemed to immediately assume Lothíriel had already given her consent. But that was not the case: she had yet to say yes. In Imrahil's eyes, the matter was already more or less settled, and Éomer wasn't sure how to explain the situation to his friend. But he would not press her about it - the last thing he wanted was to make her feel insecure with him, or like she owed it to him to say yes. Lothíriel knew how he felt about her... and she would make her decision in her own time. And she was a woman worth waiting for all the lifetimes of Men.

The day itself was warm and beautiful, and the breeze in the air was gentle. At that, Erchirion gave Éomer what he probably thought of as a reassuring smile.

"Have no fear, my friend. This means easy and calm sailing", he said. Well, that did console him somewhat, to be honest. Hopefully he wouldn't have to start retching the moment they stepped on board.

"I'm not scared of the sea", he told the prince, who looked at him with wide eyes and eagerly nodded.

"Of course not, my lord. That is a completely absurd suggestion", Erchirion agreed. Though Éomer did not continue that conversation, he did entertain the idea of tossing the prince over the railing once they were in the ship.

"And anyway, we won't really get to the sea. It's not a speedy ship we're taking, so we'll get about as far as the bay", said the prince, which made Éomer frown.

"But what's the point of it, then?" he asked, "Why not have the party here?"

Erchirion rolled his eyes.

"I don't think you'd ever understand, you landlubber", he said with mock disapproval. The King snorted.

"And I don't think I want to", he said, which made his friend laugh.

It was late afternoon when they rode down to the harbour. Apparently it took some time to get the yacht to the bay, and the Princess said they should be there by sunset at the latest because "views were better from there".

"Views? What views?" Éomer had asked, but that just made her smile mysteriously.

"You'll see, my good king", she had answered and patted his arm. "It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you beforehand, would it?"

"I hope it doesn't include me drowning", he had grumbled. Lothíriel had let out a small laugh and promised to dive after him if he fell from the deck. He did not tell her that for that reason, he might even consider jumping into the water. He loved her but the dear girl didn't need to know all the foolish ideas her very presence planted in his head.

They set from the palace towards the harbour some time after noon; most of the other guests were apparently boarding already, and after the Prince and his company had arrived, the ship would set sail.

"Lothíriel, where is your brother? I haven't seen Amrothos since the breakfast", asked Imrahil as they made their way down to the harbour.

"Oh, he was feeling ill. He said he wouldn't come, because he didn't want to offend our guests' eyes by hanging over the railing and emptying his guts", said the Princess with something of a haste.

"Hmm. One can always trust on Amrothos to come up with something like that when he is needed", Imrahil sighed half to himself, but Éomer didn't hear rest of his observations considering his family, for the young king's attention was now engaged by the... thing in the harbour.

Well, it was a ship, though it reminded him more of a giant swan than an actual boat, but he was fairly sure he shouldn't voice out his notions – elsewise, some old pirate would no doubt come and murder him in his bed. The ship was made of light wood, and though it's build was graceful, it looked to him like it had been specifically designed for occasions just as this, with spacious decks to feast and stroll on. Obviously it was not made for long trips, for which he was glad: if they stayed close enough to coast, he'd be able to swim back to the shore at least. But hopefully the party would not come to that. For the occasion, on the masts and railings there were decorations such as flowers and colourful ribbons and it all seemed a bit too much, but Éomer never commented on it.

"Well? What do you think, my lord?" Lothíriel asked as once they were down in the harbour and ready to embark. The harbour itself was suddenly full of bustle; most of the guests were already waiting for them on the deck, but the Prince's company and his royal guest made quite a crowd too, and many of the people living in the city had come to see the occasion. Éothain and several of his guards had come too. His captain and a few of his men would accompany him to the cruise, but the rest of the guard would stay behind to look after their horses.

"It's... a ship, my lady", he said at length, hoping that she wasn't passionately protective of the art of sea-faring. Fortunately, she just laughed at his words.

"Don't worry, my lord. I'll not let you drown", she promised.

"That comforts me very much, Princess. I place my life in your hands", he said gravely, and she smiled.

"And I promise I will take good care of it, Sire", she told him, and they started to make their way for the ship. On the way there he spotted none other than the Lady Glosswen and her father. He hadn't known they would be attending as well, but he quickly surmised the events of the other day had finally made her understand what a hopeless cause he was - the girl looked like she was purposefully interested in everything that wasn't him. For all the headache he had suffered he had to appreciate she didn't stubbornly insist on chasing him anyway, which was more than could be said of some ladies he could name.

Boarding the ship brought Éomer's attention back to the event at hand and he grit his teeth in an attempt to hide his discomfort. Though the vessel was steady, he found it difficult not to think of all that unpredictable water just under the wooden structure of the ship. As he cast a look at his captain, he could see that Éothain was equally distrustful. The two of them shared a glance of suffering, but suddenly Éothain's face turned surprised, and then he grinned. He nodded towards the crowd of guests. Éomer cast a look about and he had to bite his tongue not to chuckle out loud, as it appeared like Lothíriel's prediction had been quite correct. All the male guests of the crowd were wearing flowers in their hair.

If he got through this celebration without bursting because laughter held back for too long, it'd be a miracle.

Soon his discomfort started to fade, eased by his humorous observations of current hair fashion in Dol Amroth and a couple glasses of wine, and soon he took note that the ship was already slowly gliding out to the bay. It's movement was so gentle that he barely noticed anything. Éomer had feared maybe his stomach would not stand the voyage, but that was apparently a needless concern.

The celebration itself was not too bad either. For one, it was far less formal than the ball had been and he had some very pleasant conversations. A small band of Imrahil's court musicians played some light music, drinks were served and even some food (if you could call those strange little arrangements food – at least for Éothain, they only ever served to make him more hungry). When the light of day started to wane, lanterns were lit, and Éomer imagined the ship must have glowed with golden light. To himself he thought it was not too bad at all, but he didn't tell the Princess or her brothers that. Eventually the ship was anchored seeing distance from the city of Dol Amroth, which he liked; he would not have wanted to lose the sight of land.

It was then that the small boat was seen speeding towards the swan ship, it's dark blue sails pillowing in the wind. It came from the direction of the city, which of course alarmed Imrahil. Éomer noticed the frown on his friend's brow and he went to stand beside the Prince by the railing.

"Is something amiss?" asked the young king.

"That is what I'm wondering. I do not think anyone would sail after us if there was not something wrong in the city", Imrahil said quietly. Éomer squinted his eyes to see who was sailing towards the royal yacht, and not before long he spotted the grinning face of Amrothos. The prince certainly did not seem to be feeling ill anymore. At first he wondered how a member of the principal family could handle a boat with such ease... but then he realised asking such a question was probably about as absurd as if one had asked why the members of House of Eorl were skilled in horsemanship. He was instantly happy for not voicing his thoughts.

"It is your youngest son, Imrahil", said the King. A bemused look came to the face of his friend.

"Amrothos? I thought he was ill", Imrahil wondered. "Well, I'm sure we'll hear soon enough what this is about..."

The prince steered his boat next to the yacht and the guests on board gathered about the railing to see better. Éomer of course had no knowledge of how the little boat was called, but he took note that it had one sail but also oars. He thought two people might be able to sail that boat together, but three would have been too much.

A ladder of rope was thrown down as soon as Amrothos had made sure the boat was securely tied to the swan ship, and he climbed up aboard. Imrahil was there waiting for him, and the two instantly proceeded into a fast conversation in Sindarin. Éomer knew some of that language, as his late uncle had wanted to give him and his sister as good an education as it was possible in their circumstances. But Imrahil and Amrothos' conversation was too fast for him to follow.

"Don't look so tense, Sire. Nothing's wrong – my brother just decided he wasn't sick after all and came to join us", said Lothíriel as she appeared as if from nowhere to his side. The last he had seen her, she had been talking with some noble ladies whose names he could not remember.

"Hmm. I was already wondering whether I would have to muster the Rohirrim", Éomer half-muttered. "Your brother is very erratic."

That made her giggle.

"I suppose he is. Usually, entertaining things follow because of it", she said and there was a sparkle of mischief in her grey eyes. As if he had heard his sister saying that, Amrothos cast a grin towards their direction; he was still talking with Imrahil, who wore a slightly exasperated face now. Lothíriel snorted, "But as you can very well see, Father is rarely impressed."

"It's truly a life of adventure to be a father to the lot of you", Éomer commented, at which she laughed and grabbed his arm in a way one could have called affectionate.

"Doesn't that make you scared? Or at least hesitate about the idea of marrying me? You see, our children could be just as hopeless", she pointed out, but if anything, he was just thrilled that she'd even entertain that idea. Our children. Thinking of it made him feel weak with yearning.

"Dearest Princess, at this point you could reveal that you actually have two heads and I would not care", he told her in a low voice that only she heard, fighting a sudden urge to kiss her right there in the front of Gondorian nobility and Imrahil himself. She fell silent and looked up at him, her face turning serious.

"You truly mean that?" she asked softly.

"Of course I do. You need to learn to trust me, min sæides", he said, equally grave. Then he smiled at her, "So, you admit that you are hopeless?"

Lothíriel rolled her eyes and punched his arm.

"Oh, you have no idea, O Lord of the Mark", she said. He laughed and considered telling her again he loved her, but he had a feeling she could already read it from his eyes.

The commotion about Amrothos' arrival died gradually and the guests returned to the relaxed socialising. Lothíriel presented Éomer to a southern lord called Narwon, who entertained them with stories from his many travels to Southron lands. Despite himself, the young king was enjoying himself to the point of forgetting the passage of time.

When the last rays of sun had disappeared, a bell was rung and the chatter and music died; Imrahil cleared his throat and beamed towards the throng of his noble guests.

"My good friends! If I could have your attention for a moment, please", he called and then proceeded into a speech of thanking Éomer for his visit (almost making it sound like he had bestowed some divine grace by being a guest to the Prince's family), extensively wishing him a safe journey back and making it more than clear that he was always welcome in the city. After commending what a great time it had been, Imrahil momentarily fell silent with this meaningful look on his face, and it took Éomer a moment to realise it meant his friend was hoping he might step in and announce his betrothal to the princess. But the King only gave Imrahil a weak little smile and hoped to Béma that there would not be a conversation about this later on.

The Prince seemed to get the hint anyway, and he concluded his speech finally, and the crowd gave him an enthusiastic applaud.

"Now, if I could ask you to move over to the right side of the ship? To my great pride and joy, we are about to witness something previously unseen on these shores. My good people, it is time for fireworks!" he announced, which immediately brought about excited chatter and people quickly moved over to the right side of the boat to claim the best spots. Even servants and the crew of the ship seemed enthusiastic to see the show of lights. In the bustle that took place, Lothíriel grabbed for Éomer's arm, and he turned to look at her. The Princess' eyes were very bright.

"Sire, would you like a better view? And with less crowd swarming about you?" Lothíriel asked. It wasn't a question he had to think about much. To see the fireworks with her was very tempting idea; he had heard of Gandalf the White's famous fireworks but had never seen them himself, and it was an experience he'd very much like to share with Lothíriel.

"Gladly, my Princess", he answered, and instantly a grin appeared on her face.

"Follow me, Lion", she urged, striding fast to the other side of the deck and then around the cabin. He followed her, growing curious as to where she thought they'd get a better view. He wondered whether he should notify Éothain, who was loudly laughing at something Amrothos had said, but the captain would probably just make a fuss of it. As everyone had gathered to the railing side that faced the land, no one was there to see the two of them, nor to take note of Princess of Dol Amroth climbing the rope ladder down to the ship Amrothos had sailed.

"Princess, what are you doing?" Éomer asked as soon as he saw what she was doing.

"Better views, my lord. But to get to them, we'll have to take a boat", she said with a smile, staring up at him from halfway down the ladder. "Come now. Where is your sense of adventure?"

He was still doubtful.

"You expect me to get down there? You know how I feel about boats", he reminded her.

"I do. But I also promised I wouldn't let you drown. Now, get climbing, or I'll go alone", Lothíriel said and continued climbing down. Well, that did it. He really couldn't let her go alone, could he? Some smuggler or a pirate could try and kidnap her. So, even as his feet slightly trembled, he flung his feet over the edge of railing, turned and started to descend. Truth be told, he had never felt as nervous while climbing as he now did, but he did his best not to think of all the masses of water just below him.

"Hurry up, Sire! They're just about to start, and we need to get some distance between us and the ship", the Princess urged from below.

He growled something unintelligible as a response, and then at last the rope ladder ended... gingerly, he lowered one foot and then the next, and he felt the gently swaying little ship under his feet. It was a good thing his sense of balance was steady, for otherwise he was fairly sure he'd have gone flying into the sea head first.

"Now, sit down. We don't want you toppling the boat", she ordered, and Éomer readily complied, settling down on the seat at the end of the ship. He wasnt so sure how he'd ever get up and he was already thinking this was so bad idea. But Lothíriel's face was serene as she nimbly moved about, sat by the oars, and started rowing. The sails were not spread, like when Amrothos had sailed the ship. Even so her strong pulls and pushes quickly took them away from the swan ship that basked in golden light.

"Wouldn't your father be worried if he knew?" asked the King after a moment. Without the lights of the ship, both of them were enfolded in the deep dark blue of night, but the moon and stars gave enough light for Lothíriel to see where she was going.

"Oh, probably yes. But this is not the first time I sit in a boat. I am actually very capable of sailing this vessel", she told him. "If we had the supplies, I could take you all the way to west coast of Eriador."

"Hmm. You don't have to take me that far to prove anything. And by the way, I should be rowing, not you", he noted, though he wasn't particularly willing to leave his sitting spot. That would have required him moving about in the boat, after all.

"Be quiet. You may be stronger than I am but I don't think you've ever rowed a boat before", she said.

"How far are we going? The fireworks should start any moment now", Éomer said then, casting a look towards the city that shone like a pillar of light in the night.

"I'd rather get a bit more distance between ourselves and the ship. Don't worry – we won't miss anything. The fireworks will start precisely when they are meant to", Lothíriel said and there was a smug little smile on her face, and that was the first moment he suspected anything. But he did not get a chance to ponder that, for suddenly she halted the boat and pulled in the oars. They were already from the shouting distance to the ship. "This should do."

"Have you seen fireworks before?" asked the King. She smiled and shook her head.

"I haven't, but Father has – long ago, when he was a child. He's been working on this quite a while now and he said it'd be a perfect way to fare you well. I've actually been looking forwards to this", she said, turning her eyes towards the city, looking as if trying to search for something. "Oh! There's the sign. They're just about to start."

She pointed towards the city, and soon he spotted the flashes of light from the high, probably from one of the towers of the great palace. And then... it began

It was one light at first, like a small and lone shooting star speeding towards the heavens. Then it exploded into a ball of light, and more shooting stars followed. Soon the sky over Dol Amroth was full of flashing lights, of star bursts of all the colours of rainbow, and golden blasts that dissolved into nothingness after burning fast and bright. In awe, the King of Rohan and the Princess of Dol Amroth followed this show of light and colour, and her little gasps of wonder made him feel like he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her until they both were breathless. At times, she'd lift her hand and point at something and eagerly call: "Éomer! Look at that! Isn't it beautiful?"

Towards the end, it got to the point where the whole sky was shimmering and flashing, and she laughed out loud, until the last burst of gold finally faded and the night turned dark again.

Well. That was certainly a show, Éomer thought to himself and made a mental note of having to thank Imrahil for organising this. He turned towards the princess, expecting to see her in the oars again and to turn the vessel towards the swan ship. Granted, she had picked up the oars once more and started to row... but she made no sign of even planning to turn the boat. Rather, the boat moved further and further away from the illuminated shape of her father's yacht.

"I am sure you have noticed that yourself, but your father's ship is not the way you are rowing", Éomer carefully pointed out, but his words just made her smile.

"Of course I know that, my dear King. I am a fairly capable at navigating, really", she answered serenely.

"Then why are you taking us the wrong direction?" he asked, feeling more suspicious by the second. Again Lothíriel smiled, and now she looked enormously self-satisfied. She even laughed.

"Why, it's because I am stealing you. This is an abduction, Éomer King, and you're now my hostage."


My lord Imrahil,

As you have probably already noticed, I have abducted the King of Rohan. Do not try to find us, or you will never see him again. He belongs to me now and I have no intention of giving him back.

Best regards,
Pirate Queen Rhovancairiel

PS. Hahahahah!


A/N: Something tells me that Éomer is not an entirely unwilling hostage, not when the abduction is by Lothíriel. But his reaction will have to wait for now. :D

I know it's a bad joke I made at the very end, but to be honest I simply couldn't resist the temptation. "Rhovancairiel" should translate into something like "Lady of Wild Ship", though it is possible I derped with Sindarin there. I'd be glad to fix it, of course. Anyway, I imagine it's a nick name from Lothíriel's childhood - pretending to be pirates was something she and Amrothos did often - so Imrahil will know from this note left by Lothíriel that his daughter and Éomer are not in danger.

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing!