CHAPTER 33
Ever after
It was well past midnight, Éomer had graciously offered her the same chamber she had occupied when last she stayed in Edoras. Somehow it seemed smaller now, perhaps less grand, but no less welcoming. She trailed the thick ceiling beams in the scares light from the still burning hearth. As the evening grew later, she had been well fed after her ride, and Éomer's riders had joined them for wine in the great hall. It had been a pleasant night, for a few moments the Rohirrim had made her forget her troubles with their rowdy tales of battles and glory. Yet she was aching for a moment alone with Éomer. Amongst his men and servants, propriety require restraint but occasionally, their eyes would find each other across the table and thus she knew it was not just she who struggled to uphold it. Sleep was jesting her when she knew he was sleeping under the same roof, just across the hall. The house would be sleeping by now, she could make it there unseen.
Attempting sleep for a little while longer, she finally gave in and got out of the bed. She pulled her robe tight around her and let her hands stroke over her long, blonde curls that cascaded down her shoulders in their nightly freedom. The floor was ice cold under her bare feet, but she barely noticed. Heaving a deep sigh she walked up towards the door, pulled the handle and the creaking door fell open. She gasped as Éomer's figure came into light, leaning up against the door post right outside, his white tunic disheveled as if hastily pulled on.
"Éomer," she said. "You startled me."
He said nothing but straightened up at her words, their gazes locked, he carefully stepped inside, and she backed into the room as he followed. Without his eyes falling away, he softly shut the door behind him, and for a moment they paused. Aema's breath caught and she could do nothing but stare at him, his face wearing the softness that was hers and hers alone. It was such a slight shift but somehow it erased his usual sternness and left a boyish look in its stead, but never had she seen it in him under any other circumstance but between the two of them. She cherished it, like a precious gift since she now knew the scorching pain of living without it.
He closed the last few steps between them and before she knew it, he had enveloped her in his strong arms, his lips feverishly finding hers and as ever when his body sought hers, her reason abandoning her by every trembling touch of his hands.
As the first light of dawn peaked through the window, Aema laid propped up atop his chest, watching his face, trailing her fingertips along her locket that rested in the nook of his neck. His hands stroking her hair in soft, absent-minded strokes.
"Why didn't you come?" she asked at last.
"Min'Litha," he said with a faint smile, "what would you have done with me, a southern king barging across your borders? I dared not think of it."
Her eyes sought his, she knew the truth of his words, yet she had longed for him, wished to have his arrival announced amidst the turmoil she had lived.
"I wished to." He said upon reading her face. "You must know I did."
Her eyes fell to his lips, and she let her fingertips wander upward, trailing them as the warmth of his words spread inside her chest.
"And what now, Éomer King?" she said. "What are we supposed to do now?"
He suddenly stirred, pushing himself up until he sat with his back against the bedframe, forcing her to sit up too. His hand found the ring dangling around her neck and in one swift, painless move he pulled the chain so it broke, releasing the ring. He caught it and took her hand in his.
"Now," he said, looking at her, determination descending upon his face. "now we do this my way, my love." He treaded the ring back upon her finger, where it had once rested before. "Now I will declare the queen of Romen my wife before the world." Her eyes were fixed on the ring upon her finger for a moment, before once again finding his gaze.
"But Éomer.."
"No." he interrupted. "Whatever qualms you may have, whatever we need to do, consider it done. Every question will be addressed, every future eventuality will have a solution. However, there is nothing that will keep me from doing what I should have done long ago. Aema, it took a flood to bring you back, do not be mistaken, I am not letting go."
"Éomer do you really believe there is a way?"
"We have made it through the world's certain ending, you stand at my door when your land was nearly washed away. Whatever the world may throw in our way, do you not think we will prevail?"
"It is complicated." Her hesitation was feeble, forced rather than earnest.
"It was never easy Aema."
"I suppose.. I know now that it certainly wasn't easier without you."
"Aye." He said with a smile, stroking her long curls behind her shoulder. "We were always stronger together, and our lands will stand everything to gain from this close alliance. It is mere days to ride. There is nothing in our way and I shall quench your hesitation if ever it grips you. Be mine, be queen, be living up north, be whatever you need to be, but be mine."
"Oh Éomer." She said. "I am yours, above all else, I am yours."
He kissed her. A long, hungry, sealing kiss in the bed she had slept the night he had first told her he loved her.
~ THE END ~
