A/N: I am not J. R. R. Tolkien. I do not want money for this story.
Thank you to kfirey, adanethel, Christmas 95, and Elmarie for your reviews! I really love reading your thoughts.
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It was one of the times when Eomer almost hated the fact that he had survived. After waking from a dream where first his mother and father, and then Eowyn, and then Lothiriel of all people were cut down before him while he was helpless, Eomer realized that he was not going to sleep again that night.
Instead of rolling over and over in his bed, he decided to visit Firefoot down in the stables. He shook himself off as he dressed, still restless and upset by the day – that a group of bandits would dare venture so near his hold bothered him. He refused to let his mind travel further down that path – Eothain was living thanks to the Lady Lothiriel. Eomer had no idea how he would tell her father about this upsetting event, at least Amrothos had not taken insult that his sister was almost abducted within a few leagues of Edoras.
Eomer splashed his face with water before he left his room, grabbing a cloak as he went. It did no good to worry about Imrahil's reaction. He would both believe Eomer and accept his apology, or he wouldn't. Imrahil could not put Eomer through a harsher berating than the one he had been giving himself all day.
With a nod to the guards on duty, Eomer pulled open the stable door, and was surprised to see a small light lit near the end of the stalls. Stepping inside the stable, he quietly closed the door, and crept towards the light.
"…Now Mistress Miri, it will not be so bad. The stable master said that we would only have to wait this one season, and then next year we could foal you. I know, I promised this year, but if you listened to me and believed me when I told you that you are not battle trained, maybe we would not be in this position. There is no need to look at me like that, nor is there any need to huff. You'll wake the other horses, and we don't want that."
Eomer reached the stall the light was issuing from, and smiled at the scene there. Lothiriel sat with her horse's head on her lap and a blanket wrapped tight around her shoulders. Clearly her horse was still in some pain, and had wakened in confusion.
"Shh, hush," Lothiriel soothed as Mirime made a half-hearted snort. "I know it must hurt now, but it will soon be healed. Just think – in but two months from now we may be riding by the sea again. It will take some time before we can gallop along the waves, but at least we'll be by the water. I wish I could give you my memories of the waves crashing, and the gulls screaming at us, but maybe you have your own." Lothiriel's tone was calm and gentle, and her hand rhythmically combed through the mane that was in her reach. She sighed and leaned her head back against the stable wall, with a slight grimace of pain. Taking her hand off the mane, she readjusted her shoulder strap, and then went back to stroking. When Mirime was calm, Lothiriel let her hand rest.
"Shall we continue our game?" Lothiriel asked, but clearly did not expect an answer as she continued. "You were just dealt, and decided to play "not seeing, I have seen." You raise the stakes to two rocks."
Eomer moved closer to see that by the lantern was a small pile of rocks and a pile of cards. Five were placed face down in front of Mirime's nose and another pile of five Lothiriel picked up. "Hmm." She thought out loud. "You may have made a poor choice my dear. "I have seen." I put in all my rocks. Let's see who wins." She placed her cards down face up, and then flipped over the cards in front of her horse's nose. Glancing at the two piles she laughed, and then put her good hand over her mouth to smother the sound. "I have lost." She told her horse. "Three of the Kings and two Suns? Has Amrothos been teaching you tricks?" She asked her horse, gathering up the cards.
Suddenly she looked up. "My lord Eomer." She exclaimed, and started to move as if to stand up.
"Please stay where you are." Eomer requested quickly, and her movement settled. "It is late Lady Lothiriel. Why are you still awake?"
"I couldn't sleep because of my shoulder." Lothiriel explained. "I thought to come here where I could sit up and watch over Mirime – your stable master did give me permission. He thought that some familiar smells might help her relax."
Lothiriel waited for Eomer to speak again, and after a moment when he did not she asked, "Was there something you required? Or Eowyn needed?"
"No, no." Eomer shook his head. "I was also unable to sleep and thought to come sit with Firefoot."
"Oh." Lothiriel said, and neatened the pile of cards. "Would you rather I go so you can be alone?" She asked after another minute of silence.
"What game were you playing?" Eomer asked, unsure how to respond. He wanted time alone for reflection, but he couldn't ask her to leave her horse.
To his surprise, Lothiriel blushed. "It's… well… it's a card game I'm not supposed to know." She looked up at him, "Come in and sit if you like, I'll show you. I'm told this game corrupts young ladies, but I'm not sure what it will do to the King of Rohan." She added with a smile.
Eomer gently opened the door and quietly came in. As he sat, Lothiriel put the deck of cards in her injured hand, and used the good one to flip cards over.
"Amrothos gave me this deck of cards when I was very little. It comes from the Haradrim – we traded with them when I was young I seem to recall, though we haven't in many years. Each card has picture on it." She flipped over a card showing a red background and a woman dancing. "That is the least important card. The more important ones are the knight, the queen, the king, and the sun." She showed him those cards. "The person who holds the deck mixes the cards together, and then places five before each player. You can look at your cards or not. If you look at your cards you're looking for pairs or sets of three. The stronger the person will mean you have a better chance of winning."
Eomer nodded, it seemed fairly straightforward. "What are the rocks for?" He asked.
Lothiriel smiled. "Normally Mirime and I bet a number of carrots, or lumps of sugar, but I don't want to feed her anything extra while she's this injured and risk her stomach. Normally people would bet money or something valuable." She looked at Eomer and then divided the rock pile in half. "Here, this is much easier to understand when you play."
She then picked up the cards she showed him and carefully mixed them in with the rest. Then she gingerly gave him one card, and put another down in front of herself. Eomer bent to pick up the card, but was stopped when she cried, "Wait! It's bad luck to pick up the cards one at a time. Wait until you have all five."
Eomer obediently waited, and then picked up all five cards at the same time as Lothiriel. He organized his matches, one pair of knights, one pair of queens, and a dancer, and then looked to Lothiriel for further instruction. "You decide whether or not to play." She prompted.
"I'll play" he said, unsure of what to do.
"You say "I have seen" and then based on how strong your hand is you place in a number of rocks."
"I have seen." Eomer repeated, and put one of his rocks on the ground between the two of them.
"I have seen." Lothiriel stated, and put in one of her rocks next to his. "Now we reveal our cards." She lay hers on the ground, and he copied her. She had a pair of Kings but nothing else. "You have won – your two pairs beat my one pair, so the two rocks are yours."
Eomer took the two rocks to add to his pile, and Lothiriel collected the cards. She hesitated, unsure if Eomer wanted to continue the game.
"What happens next?" Eomer asked.
"We play until all the rocks belong to one person, or until some one gets tired of the game. Normally there are more players, which makes the game more interesting, or so I'm told."
"Have you ever played against anyone else?" Eomer asked gesturing for her to play again.
"It's your turn to pass the cards out, my lord. If you wish." Lothiriel smiled and handed him the stack of cards. "Mix them together well first, and then hand them out one at a time." She instructed leaning back. "I have never played again anyone, save Amrothos. My brothers and I passed each other as strangers when I was child, and then I was invited to court and so didn't see them more than once a year. Amrothos and I are closer in temperament, and were fonder of each other because of it. He would visit when he could, but not more than three times a year at best." She sighed and leaned forward again. "The cards are mixed, my lord, if you would pass them out."
Eomer obeyed, and included Mirime in his circle. "You said that the more players the better the game." He explained, answering her silent question. "I would include Firefoot, but I do not think he would bare losing to a filly well."
Lothiriel laughed. She had forgotten that amongst the Rohirrum it would seem normal to include a horse in a game. "Mirime goes first, being on your right." She explained, dividing her rock pile in half and pushing the pile by Mirime's nose. "She always plays "Not having seen, I have seen."" And Lothiriel placed one of Mirime's rocks in the group space. "That means that she doesn't look at her cards, but she still wants to play. "I have seen."" Lothiriel said and then added one of her rocks to the pile.
"I have seen." Eomer put one rock in. They laid their cards down and Lothiriel flipped over Mirime's.
"It appears I win this round, my lord." Lothiriel took the rocks. "It would be Mirime's turn to mix the cards, but I normally do that for her."
"Allow me." Eomer picked up the cards. "Is your arm in much pain?"
"It could be worse." Lothiriel diplomatically replied as he mixed the cards. "At least here there is no one to fuss over me, to insist I stay in bed for days as I heal."
"Do you need to stay in bed while you heal?" Eomer asked and passed out the cards.
"Bright Heavens no!" exclaimed Lothiriel. "There is work to be done still. Eowyn still needs assistance packing, especially as we are leaving next week." Eomer looked skeptical. "Truly, women are able to work through pain just the same as you men. I have not died, I was not seriously injured."
"You said you weren't able to sleep." Eomer pointed out.
"As did you. Do you need to stay in bed for the next few days?" Lothiriel asked shrewdly.
Eomer raised his hands in defeat. He won the next round and passed the cards to Lothiriel. They played the next two rounds in a comfortable silence.
Eomer at last broke it, pointing out how quiet Lothiriel had become.
"As have you, my lord." She retorted, with a smile.
"Eomer." He said.
"My lord?" She asked as he passed the cards out.
"Eomer, please call me Eomer. Your brother does, and you have taught me a gambling game from the Haradrim, I believe it is appropriate."
"Lothiriel, then." She smiled. "Though it would be best if we did not address each other so informally in Gondor – it would not be proper."
Eomer groaned. "Why do your people have so many rules for everything? How can you breathe in such a society?"
"With very quick shallow breaths." Lothiriel pertly replied. "And name one rule that we have in Gondor that you do not have similarly here, my l- Eomer."
"Where to start?" Eomer exclaimed. "What about how have insufferable levels of address for everyone?"
"How is that different from here?" Lothiriel laughed. "Would my lord Eothain be offended if I called him a captain instead of a marshal? Of course he would. It is not so different."
"But we can address each other by given names here, not by titles."
"Still, your captains and marshals, and people in general refer to you as 'my Lord-King' at least, even if they do include your name at the end of it." Eomer considered this. "My lord?" Lothiriel asked after he had been silent for some time. "Eomer?"
"I had not realized that people address me as such. I am used to being the Third Marshal, and being 'my lord'-ed that I hadn't realized that they call me King all the time now." He looked truly surprised at this realization.
"But, that is what you are. You are the King. Why shouldn't they address you with your proper titles?"
Eomer shook his head. "I was never supposed to be King. I never wanted it, not ever. Theodred would take the crown and marry. His sons would rule, and I would guard the East Mark, or the West."
"I am sorry for your cousin." Lothiriel said simply.
"Sorry doesn't bring him back." Eomer sharply replied.
"No." Lothiriel agreed sadly. "Sorry never brings any good."
They were silent again. "Your cousin, and your uncle." Lothiriel murmured. Eomer flinched slightly. "They died well at least," Lothiriel pointed out. "My cousin had honor in his death, I am told, but not my uncle."
"Your cousin, and your uncle." Eomer recalled, startled that he never connected this woman with Denethor or Boromir.
Lothiriel looked down. "I find it… difficult to mourn for my uncle." She picked her words carefully. "But I feel as though some part of me keeps waiting for Boromir to return. He was… my world when I was at court. I lived for the weeks he was home, he was big brother, teacher, and friend all in one."
"Not Faramir?"
"Faramir was – is my brother, more than my cousin. But he and I were too much of an age for him to inspire the same awe that Boromir does – did."
Lothiriel's gaze was fixed on a small piece of her horse's mane, and she reached out to straighten it. There was nothing in her tone or body language that suggested he fill the silence by talking about Theodred, and yet, he felt the challenge hang in the air before him.
"Theodred…" he began, and was surprised at the emotion that welled up in him as he spoke the name. He cleared his throat and tried to continue. "Theodred was much the same for me. When I moved – when we moved to Edoras he was the one who looked out for me. He was the best brother I could have ever asked for." It was his turn to look down at Mirime, and to gently stroke her forelock.
"I can't imagine losing all my brothers – losing Boromir was bad enough."
Eomer nodded, unable to say any thing else with out losing his composure.
"Boromir met Theodred a few times before the fighting on our border was too intense for him to be anywhere else." Lothiriel spoke carefully. "He told me I would like the 'big man in Rohan.'"
Eomer was startled into a half laugh. "Theodred hated that name. Passionately." He met Lothiriel's eyes, and drank in her small smile. "He would say 'it is bad enough that I'm the easiest target, with out people making it into my war name.'"
Lothiriel gave a small chuckle. "I confess it made me imagine him eight feet tall, wild, and eating an entire sheep for breakfast."
"Perhaps not an entire sheep." Eomer responded gravely, causing Lothiriel to genuinely laugh.
"He really was eight feet tall then?"
"He was more of your Boromir's height, I seem to recall. Perhaps a half a hand taller."
"That is disappointing. Was he at least wild?"
"I have never heard that word applied to my cousin before." Eomer replied slowly, thinking it over. "I suppose he could be, on the battlefield. Orcs, wildmen, bandits, all stayed away while he was here, even when Theoden King started failing. But, he was more than the battle."
She heard the bitterness in his voice. "You are not responsible for what happened today."
Eomer shook his head. "Theodred would have kept you safe."
"We cannot know that. Theodred never had to face a world without the Dark Lord or Saruman, a world where small evil powers wander with out purpose."
"Eothain said they had a purpose." Eomer watched her shrewdly, as Lothiriel's face flushed.
"The tragic part is that when I tell my friends how my first proposal happened, I will have to include that the prospect of spending a life with out me is enough to drive men to madness."
Eomer laughed at her arch tone, she sounded every bit the dejected lady.
"You may laugh now, but I warn you, it is most provoking for a young woman to find out that she must either marry or risk massive bloodshed." She added with a smile.
"How shall you manage it?" He was unable to stay on the serious topic of her wellbeing when she was smiling and laughing with him.
"I shall run away to Rohan, of course. Once Mirime is well enough to travel." She gave her horse a small pat.
"You should speak to the King of Rohan before you do so. It is unwise to trespass upon his lands unasked."
"Oh, I shall not bother anyone so important as the King!" Lothiriel exclaimed, playfully. "I shall live in a small hut on the edge of one of the hamlets, and no one will notice me."
Eomer tried to imagine a circumstance where Lothiriel would be unnoticeable, but was unable to. "You will need to earn a living then. Even a small hut will take money to keep up."
"Hmm." Lothiriel thought. "I suppose the hamlet would have a healer I could apprentice myself to, or perhaps I would teach the children of the village to throw knives."
"That still might not be enough to support your household."
"I'll give it more thought, then." Lothiriel promised.
"You will have to decide if you will live in the Eastfold or the Westfold."
"I suppose… well, which is better?"
"It depends. Now the Eastfold…" Eomer warmed up to his task of comparing the two sides of his country, going into great detail. For a while, Lothiriel added in comments, causing the two of them to laugh, but after a time her head leaned back against the stable wall, and her eyes drifted shut to picture the scene Eomer depicted.
Eomer noticed she was slowly falling asleep, and silently stood and left the stable to find her a blanket. By the time he returned she was already softly sleeping.
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A/N: This was one of my favorite chapters to write, and I hope you enjoyed it!
Card games have been around since the 1300's in England, so I think they work in this setting. The game that I have Lothiriel and Eomer play is based off of As Nas, one of the earliest versions of poker. I have added a few liberties to the game to keep it closer to what might be found in Middle Earth.
As always, questions, comments, concerns, and general reviews are always appreciated! Thank you for reading!
