DISCLAIMER: It all belongs to the brilliant Professor Tolkien!!!! I own none of it!
NOTES: Thank you all for your kind feedback! And why the hell does he not have his own category??? They all have one …even Treebeard for crying out loud ….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved the original story ..I loved the movie…I just thought a little romance wouldn´t hurt!
As I said before I do not claim to be a Tolkien expert …so if there are flaws it is not out of disrespect for Tolkien´s brilliant work!
A Daughter's duty
„ You´ll ride out with Lothiriel…all alone?"
Faramir found himself taking another deep breath as he tried to keep up with his brother- in- law. Eomer stopped dead in his tracks. Pulling on his riding gloves he turned to look at the other man.
" What is that supposed to mean?" he asked almost amused, lifting one eyebrow.
" Oh nothing!" Faramir said with a mocking smile, leaning against on of the hall´s pillars.
" You´re just going for a ride ……without guards…."
" What would I need guards for? We are not going to ride that far!"
" Just you and a princess …….no chaperone….."
" Ohhh …..will you just let it go?"
" You would have never let me and your sister …"
" Well….and the two of you proved me right! Besides I´m more trustworthy than you …or my sister for that matter!"
" You cannot let her ride with him. It´s not right ….."
Imrahil threw his eldest son an impatient glance.
" The king of Rohan is my friend, our ally and an honourable young man. Why would I not trust a man such as this with your sister? She is a grown woman and if he takes a liking to her …all the better! It is after all what we brought her here for!"
" But …."
" Enough of this!" Imrahil stepped out onto the terrace of Meduseld.
" I will here no more on this subject! What exactly is it that you fear they might do? They have met each other twice so far…when we arrived here and yesterday evening at the feast! That is hardly enough time to start a scandalous affair right under all our noses. Do you hold the king whose guest you are ….and your only sister in such low esteem?"
Lothiriel´s eldest brother looked at his boots for a moment.
" Of course not father."
" Fine …then, why don´t you help your sister to …..is that my horse?"
" I thought you would not mind, father!" Lothiriel said as she moved by the two men in swirl of moss-green skirts, kissing them both on the cheek as she went.
Imrahil made an impatient face, but no attempt to discuss her choice of horse for this occasion. It would all be for nothing anyway…..once his daughter had set her mind on something…..if she could only set her mind on his friend too.
" Is that you horse?" Imrahil turned to find King Ellessar standing next to him.
" It would seem so, my lord!" he sighed.
They silently watched Lothiriel mount the tall, grey charger by stepping on her brother´s hands as he kneeled next to the broad- chested steed. The horse threw his head back, prancing a few steps to the side as she picked up the reigns.
" Sch……Elos! It is me!" Lothiriel said, petting it´s neck.
"Can she handle that giant horse of yours?"
Imrahil crossed his hands in front of his chest and returned the king´s questioning glance.
" It would seem that there is not a creature in the world that she cannot handle. That includes me , her brothers and the entire court …..she´s like her mother." He sighed again, remembering his wife´s beautiful face. " Lothiriel is like the ocean, like the sea she grew up with……soft and calming, soothing like the waves rolling peacefully towards the shore. But she can be just as unpredictable and unrelenting. Her mother always said she was like a reed…..she will bow her head and bend if need be, but no matter how far she´ll seemingly bend, she will never break."
Aragorn nodded, watching Eomer leading his horse from the stables towards them. Like a true Rohirrim, he would never let anybody else care for his stallion.
" How is that plan of yours working out, my friend?"
" We will see….."
Eomer mounted his horse, stirring it towards the clear space in front of the terrace. To his surprise the princess was already waiting atop her father´s horse.
" Mylord…." She greeted him quietly, bowing her head towards him as he approached.
" Princess."
In the light of day the descent of her family, the elven ancestors of her line, were more obvious in the delicate features of her face. Her skin was smooth and white like fresh fallen snow and still she did not seem as pale as his sister. In the sunlight of the morning her skin seemed to be glowing from within, almost translucent in contrast to her flame coloured hair. She had not braided it so that it flowed free down the back of her dark green woollen dress. From time to time the wind picked up a few tresses, playing with them.
" Take good care of my daughter, Eomer, I have but only one." Imrahil told him as Eomer looked up from the terrace, nodding a greeting to his friends.
" I shall!"
" Shall we proceed then?" Lothiriel asked with an amused smile.
" After you, mylady!"
They let the horses trot slowly out of Edoras but as soon as they had passed the gate Lothiriel loosened the reigns of her father´s horse.
She turned back to look over her shoulder at him and laughed.
" Which way?"
" Whichever you choose…..my lady."
The mischievous look that passed over her face told him that it had been the wrong answer. With a joyous yell Lothiriel dug her heels into the grey steed. For a moment the giant horse stood on his hind legs, then it galloped off.
Eomer covered his mouth with one of his gloved hands, trying not to grin before he cheered his own steed on to follow her.
They rode for almost an hour across the wide, green planes of Rohan. Eomer could not help but watch her as she rode in front of him, sometimes next to him. Her face was flushed from the wild hunt and there was a blissful smile on her lips. The wind tore at her hair and her dress, sometimes revealing the knee-high riding boots she wore underneath the green skirts and glimpses of creamy white skin. There was something about the way she moved with the horse that told him that she was an accomplished rider.
After a while Lothiriel slowed her horse, turning to him. Her voice was breathless from the ride.
" Your country is beautiful milord!"
Eomer nodded, looking around himself.
" That it is ….." He shot her an inquisitive look as their horses moved on next to each other.
" Can it compare the your father´s coast….to the deep-sea?"
Lothiriel smiled, her eyes still roaming the surroundings, the wind playing over the meadow.
" But you have your own ocean here, my lord. A sea of grass and rock ……what could be more breathtaking?"
" We´ll have a great overview from that hillside…" Eomer said, moving his steed towards the hill he was pointing at.
" Shall we walk here for a while?" she asked, her serene face betraying nothing.
" Will you help me?"
Eomer nodded, dismounting his horse to let it nibble at the grass.
Lothiriel put her hands on his shoulders as she felt his firm grip around her middle. He lifted her from the horse as though she weighed nothing at all. His hands clasped around her waist, lingering there for a moment even after her feet were back on solid ground.
Lothiriel threw her hair back, looking up at him. Her eyes glittered and her face was glowing, her cheeks flushed slightly from the cold wind.
Eomer said nothing, just returning her look.
He did not smile often, but then again he did not have to, she realized. She liked his serious face. It was reassuring and simply a part of who he was. In fact his sternness told her more about him than he could ever dream of. It was a part of him, part of what made him who he was. A window to his past …..
His gloved hands still rested at the sides of her waist with a reassuring pressure. Lothiriel could feel his breath on her cheek.
"Your father was right ….",he finally said, his voice low and almost hoarse.
" You ride like a man!"
Lothiriel laughed under her breath, nodding to herself.
" I thank you my lord. From your lips those words surely are compliment."
At that he laughed. Shooting her an amused look, he bowed his head slightly.
" One of highest regard that I hardly ever pay to any woman who is not my sister!"
Lothiriel gave him another one of those serene, mysterious smiles.
She understood.
He could not live with a woman who could not handle a spirited horse. He needed someone able to handle his nature, his mood, his temper or his wild, untamed country.…no simpering, dainty maiden in distress for him …..
A strand of hair fell over her shoulder. Eomer caught it between his fingers before he knew what he was doing. They had both made no attempt to move since he had helped her from the horse. Lothiriel´s gaze never wavered as she looked up into his face with those extraordinary eyes…..eyes that held the colour of the midnight sky. She was so close, smelling of wind and wild flowers.
Carefully Lothiriel put a hand on his arm, feeling the strength and hardness of muscle under the coat. She leaned in only the slightest bit, still gazing up at his face as though she was looking for something.
" What will you give me, King of Rohan……if I give you my hand in marriage?"
Eomer knew he should step back, letting go of that fiery tress of her hair, letting go of the side of her waist his other hand was still resting on.
Her whispered question had thrown him and for a moment he wasn´t sure if he had caught her meaning. This woman he could not read, like others whom he had met before her……she was like the ocean.
Ask me …..she seemed to whisper to him without a voice.
An awful waste of time ……
" I did not know we came here to bargain, princess….."
Lothiriel tried not to laugh at the stern expression that crossed his handsome face. All he needed to do was extend his hand …….could it be that he did not know?
She lifted one eyebrow in a show of amused mockery, breathing deep. He smelled of leather and armour, like her father and her brothers …..he smelled of war.
" You did not think …. to give a girl a little incentive?"
Eomer stared at her perplexed for a moment, than he threw his head back and laughed.
She could ride and banter with him…..and she possessed a very own kind of beauty that could warm his heart.
He could see her sitting with him by the fire in the long evenings. He could see her baiting him with that mysterious smile …as though she would always hold all the secrets he had ever needed to uncover …all it would take was for him to ask her and she would hold the answers, reveal them to him.
There was not a doubt in his mind that this lady could warm his bed just as surely as she could warm his heart in the long nights of winter.
And he´d like nothing better to pull her closer and bury his face in all that hair…..
Tresses that seemed to be spun of liquid fire. But could she really live here ……so far away from the sea and the calling of the seagulls?
ASK me …….
" What will you have of me, my lady?"
" Isn´t that obvious my lord?" There was no smile now, no mockery in her features. This was her, Lothiriel…….
" I am not good at guessing games."
Lothiriel nodded again, lifting her hand from his arm.
" I´ll trade you then, Eomer, king of Rohan ….." she said after a while,
" My hand, my heart ….for yours."
She stood on the tip of her toes, bringing her face close enough to his to whisper in his ear without touching him.
" Ask me…."
" And you will be mine?"
" Don´t you know I will?"
He leaned down with a swift impulse, brushing his lips over hers in a chaste kiss. Lothiriel breathed in deep, smoothing her hands over his beard.
" Such a waste of time ….." She laughed, leaning her forehead onto his chest.
It was as though a spell had been broken and all that had remained of uncertainty had been blown away by the wind. Looking down upon her, Eomer laid his hands around her face to make her look at him. Lothiriel returned his look, reaching up to move one hand through his hair.
He laughed again, staring into her dark blue eyes. They understood each other…….and to him it was more than he had ever hoped to find. Not just someone who could move his body or his heart ….but somebody who could never, ever bore him. Someone he would never grow tired of.
" For the sake of my father and all others concerned……I fear you´ll still have to woo me first." Lothiriel told him, trying to suppress a laugh.
Eomer moved one hand over his face, trying not to moan.
" Gods…yes, they´ll never let us marry just like that. Not after all the hoops I made Faramir jump through!"
Lothiriel laughed at the impatient look on his face. She had heard quite a few interesting stories about that at the court of Gondor.
" Your sister had but one brother ……I have four of them, my lord, and a father!"
" I´ll never hear the end of this!"
" For now they are not here. I will be your wife, king of Rohan …you may be bold!"
There on that windswept hillside Eomer kissed his bride for the first time, holding her to him, feeling the lines of their bodies leaning against each other as though she would melt into him. Lothiriel closed her eyes, returning the kiss that was both rough and tender.
It would have been her duty to marry this man, a daughter´s duty to her father had he told her to …….but this duty, she knew, she´d fulfil with a song in her heart.