Chapter 19

Ever since I had arrived at Meduseld nightmares had often troubled my sleep. However, on this particular night I slept better than I had in years. I felt fully rested when the morning came about and was ready to take on the world. When my eyes opened to the bright sun and sound of men calling to one another I found my head resting where Eomer's neck and shoulder met, and my arm draped across his chest. His arm was wrapped under my back and lying loosely by my hip, the heat of our skin touching was very visible. I turned red despite the earliness of the morning while slowly pulling back to try not to disturb his apparent slumber. It was obvious that I had moved to lie on him at some point during the night and I hoped that he hadn't noticed. Eomer didn't make a move as I put distance between us and just as I sucked in a relieved breath he spoke.

"I trust you slept comfortably." His voice made me freeze in place. My back was facing his way so I could openly grimace at his words. He had noticed. I looked over my shoulder at him in the morning light and gave him a small smile.

Eomer was even handsome in the morning. His hair was slightly disheveled -which was not uncommon for him- the weariness was now gone from his eyes and replaced with peacefulness. He wore a simple brown undershirt which was untied and revealing a good part of his muscular chest. In less than a second I wondered what it would be like to run my hand across his chest and feel the rigid muscles beneath. Quickly I shook my head to clear the unholy and quite inappropriate thoughts that had entered my mind briefly. I would never have dreamt of doing something like that when I was in Dol Amroth.

"Yes. As a matter of fact I slept very comfortably. And yourself?" I asked keeping my eyes down and nervously straightening my thin slip.

"I doubt I've slept better in my life." He answered and I couldn't help but look up at him in shock.

"Surely you must have. I was practically crushing you." I replied in disbelief. He casually stretched his arms behind him and shook his head.

"Lothiriel. Despite what you may think you weigh close to nothing. Besides, as a Marshal of the Mark and traveling for days or weeks on end, you hardly ever have anything more than the ground to sleep on. I was fine." He gave me an honest look before climbing out of the blankets and walking to the table and taking a long drink of the mug of water brought in the night before. I watched him for a while unable to think of anything to say before deciding I needed to dress. I stood up and made my way around to get my clothes and felt less self conscious than the night before. Even with Eomer visibly staring at me. I felt the familiar tingle of butterflies stir within my gut. Even a glance from him could do this.

I stepped into my gown and began to pull it up when a strong hand grabbed mine.

"We should look at your burn." Eomer commented in his sultry deep voice. My breath caught in my chest again as a result of feeling his chest pressed to my still almost bare back. I nodded because it was all I could manage and he turned to me around to face him. He released my hand and went to grab the remnants of his mixture from the night before. We said nothing as he unwrapped the bandage and reexamined my wound. Thankfully it was numb because of his healing but it still looked pretty horrid.

"It'll heal in time. But you will have a scar." He assessed while effortlessly reapplying the herbs to my arm and putting a clean dressing on. When he finished he stood back up and went to collect his armor. Once he left, my breathing returned to normal and I finished pulling my dress up. I obviously couldn't reach the ties in the back and turned to Eomer.

"Would you mind?" I questioned, holding what strands I could in the awkward position I was in. On any other occasion I might have tried to do it myself, but with him in the tent as well, I decided it would be better to ask then look like a fool trying to do it alone.

"Not in the slightest." He replied and crossed the tent again. I slid my dark wavy hair over my shoulder so it would not get in his way while he worked. Again his fingers brushed across my back and another shiver went down my spine.

"That should do it." He announced when the final knot had been tied.

"Thank you." I spoke in no more than a whisper. The tension in the room could have been sliced with a sword it was so thick. I wondered how much more I could take.

He backed off again and returned to fastening his arm guards. I silently moved to grab his chest plate and began suiting him up. I avoided his probing eyes as I worked in an odd quietness. When I had finished I put on another smile.

"There. The king is ready to face the perils of the day." I chuckled playfully, trying to lighten the mood. He was dressed in his light armor and his hair was pulled back out of his face. I raised my eyes to meet his and smiled again. He truly was a powerful man in appearance, yet had the heart of a father for his people. I lowered my gaze and focused on his mouth again. I couldn't help but remember when we so very nearly kissed. The memory was still fresh in my mind as if it had happened minutes beforehand. I cleared my throat and stepped away.

"We should be going. There is much to do." I inhaled deeply and turned to walk out of the tent when Eomer reached out and grabbed me, spinning me around. I was surprised by the quick jolt and stared up at him questioningly.

His eyes gazed down at me with the same fire I had seen the night before, only this time I felt the same flame within my own body. His hands gripped my shoulders but not too tightly and I had to fight to keep composure.

Seconds felt like agonizing minutes until we both finally snapped at the seemingly same time. I reached for him while he pulled me to his chest. Our lips met in one smooth motion. An unfamiliar rush flooded my system, which seemed to happen a lot as of late. I shook in the pure enjoyment of it all. My body was reacting to his instinctively and I had never felt anything so good in my entire life. Our mouths moved together perfectly despite my inexperience. He was soft; gentle almost, making my knees weaken in a way I didn't think possible before we met. My hands had gripped onto his shirt, pulling him as close as our bodies would allow while his arms snaked around my back. I wished I never had to let go but all too soon he pulled back and rested his forehead against mine. I sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes, feeling content. My lips tingled from our kiss and my body still trembled. My senses were going mad within me. There were so many things I wanted to say, so many things I wanted to do, but all I could manage was breathing. That in itself was a great feat in my state.

More commotion outside pulled me out of my wonderful delirium. Eomer pulled back and I inwardly didn't want to be parted from him. My vision cleared and I looked up at him with a small longing within me. His hand moved up and gently stroked my cheek. I could see the same want in his eyes but he stepped back.

"There is much to do. The people need us." He half whispered moving his eyes to the ground and pushing the tent flap back and disappearing into the light of day.

I just stood there motionless for a time. What had just happened was finally sinking into me. My first kiss belonged to him and I could imagine no better man to share it with.

My breathing was evening out and my head began to clear. I heard shouts of men to break down camp and I quickly moved to grab my cloak and walked out ready to face the day with a newfound excitement in my step.

~O~

The town was still smoking by the time we had returned to it the next morning. The embers were gone and all that was left was ash and burnt pieces of wood. We freely could walk amongst the rubble without fear of houses collapsing or red hot metal to sear the skin. I thought back upon what I had nearly studied the night before and returned to the place where Eomer had found me. The shining object was still fresh in my mind and I wanted to find out what it was; if only to clear my thoughts of the memory of Eomer's lips. I knelt down beside the scythe after frowning at it and began to look around. From what I remembered it was odd. Something completely out of place. Men were searching the ruins around me and I didn't fear getting caught now. There was no need to hide. I scanned the surrounding area with a keen eye until something caught my gaze. I quickly moved closer to the few pieces of blackened wood and pushed them aside in curiosity. My eyes widened in horror and I let out a small gasp. I was not prepared for what was before me. The charred remains of an orc. His helmet was what I had been drawn to. The beat and mangled armor he was wearing was clearly distinctive. The downfall of this village was performed by orcs. It all made sense now. I stood and pulled the helmet off the body to show Eomer what I had found. He would not be surprised like I was for sure, but he needed to know.

I approached my husband conversing with Eodred not too far from where I was. "Milord!" I called out to him, unable to hide the urgent tone in my voice. Both men turned and looked at me with curiosity written on their faces.

"Forgive the intrusion my king but you need to see this." I spoke quickly as I brought forth the cursed helmet and dropped it onto the ground in front of Eomer and Eodred. "Orcs." I said simply as all three of us stared at the object with disgust and anger for expressions.

"Orcs? But how can this be? We chased them out of these parts weeks ago. I thought they were all but extinct." Eodred was the first to speak of the two powerful men, looking to his king for answers. Eomer's face was much different than it was in the tent not an hour passed. His soft, caring face had turned hard and stoic again. The wonderful sensation that his lips had left on mine was forgotten momentarily with the terrible situation before us.

"Obviously we must have underestimated their numbers Eodred. Get some men to search the town to see if there are any others to be found and that this was not just a stray." Eomer ordered the Marshal who nodded and left after a quick bow and a troubled look.

Eomer turned to face me again once Eodred was gone. All that was between us now was the need to help the people. Our people.

"If this is an attack caused by the foul creatures, what are we to do?" I asked, my brows furrowing in dread of what this could mean. "Others could be out there, destroying other towns and killing innocent people. We have to act quickly." I went on starting to feel panic set in. I knew all too well what these omens meant. Too many times had I seen those without fault pay for crimes that were not their own.

"Think peace Lothìriel. Until we know for certain that this is indeed an orc attack, we must remain calm and level headed." Eomer instructed me, his manners showing how calm he was in comparison to me. Despite all of the fighting I had done he was still far more skilled in the ways of war -and life in general- than I was. Something I would admit fully even with my pride.

I took a deep breath and nodded softly in understanding. "Forgive me, I sometimes forget my head in such situations." I spoke lowly, feeling slightly childish for such a loss of control as I had.

"How many times must I tell you to not apologize?" Eomer replied, lifting my chin to stare into his compassionate eyes. My tense body relaxed automatically as the tingling sensation set back in, and I smiled ever so slightly. "Too many it would seem."

~O~

"So it's confirmed that this was indeed an attack from the spawn of Saruman?" Eodred asked when the men finished with their report. Over a dozen bodies of charred orcs had been discovered within the ruins of the village, all with some form of weapon or torch nearby. This news was very sobering and deeply saddening to all of us. Knowing that the citizens of the village had to endure such torture as they had before the dark one was destroyed was troubling and heartbreaking at the same time. Were we not in a time of peace now? Would the death ever cease to rule over us? The idea of having orcs still present was slightly less of a concern to me. The eorod as well as Eomer -and myself if the situation would allow- would put an end to the beasts without a second thought. How long would it take though? How many more had to die in order for Rohan to prosper as it should?

"Indeed Eodred. Is appears to be the case." Eomer spoke from behind me as I sat on the edge of the table in the king's tent. Eodred closed his eyes briefly and for a moment I could see the scars and memories of battles past coming back and making him appear far older than he was, if not for a moment.

"What is to be done then my king?" Eodred spoke again after a minute's silence.

"We do what we always do. We protect our people and put down the enemy as we did before." Eomer spoke in a deep, serious voice as the three of us remembered what exactly that had entailed before.

"Is there no way to keep the people safe? Or at least to give them some sort of extra protection?" I piped in after having kept quiet for most of the conversation. Mother would disapprove of me saying a word or even being part of this meeting, but Eomer didn't seem to mind at the moment.

"The precautions shall be seen to milady." Eodred nodded deeply to me. "A dozen men shall be posted within each town to ensure that they are properly guarded." He explained in a smooth, knowing voice. I simply nodded in understanding. There wasn't much else to be done other than that. Helms Deep was still getting rebuilt from the great and costly battle that had taken place there during the war. Besides, this threat wasn't as serious as that was.

"I trust that you will see to all of these things we have discussed. Including the weekly reports." Eomer told Eodred as he moved around the table and into my line of vision.

"It shall be done my king." The Marshal replied and with a respectful bow he left to go help break down the camp so we could return to Edoras. Once he left I let out a long sigh and ran a hand through my long hair that had fallen loose throughout the trials of the day.

"Are you alright?" Eomer inquired, turning to look at me. Our eyes met for a moment and I found myself answering his question with a question of my own.

"Are you alright?" I reiterated instead, noticing how tense and troubled he appeared. Eomer rolled his shoulders in the way I had discovered was a habit for him and broke our eye contact to look to the flag hanging on the wall of the tent.

"Will the fighting never end Lothìriel?" He asked in almost a pained voice, which shot right down to my soul with the sound of it. I stood up from my perch and moved slowly over to him and turned his body so that he and I stood face to face.

"You must continue to have hope Èomer. For all we know, this is a simple skirmish and it will halt altogether. There cannot be many more orcs within the great lands of Rohan. We will kill them and we will prosper under your wise rule." I had no idea where these words were coming from, but I just let them flow from my tongue. Eomer's eyes found mine again and the sorrow within his gaze was enough to make me want to cry. He had seen so much hurt in his life, more so than many had.

"I am not wise Lothìriel. My uncle was wise. My father was wise. I am nothing like they were." The king explained with a heavy heart. Reaching up, I ran my hands down the front of his chest plate in a comforting manner before taking his hands in my own.

"You are a wise man Eomer son of Eomund. Your father and your uncle would be proud of you. I did not have the honor of meeting either of them, but you have the same spirit within you as they had. The fire that drives you to protect your people and to love them….that is what makes you a great man, and an even better king. Rohan is blessed to have you…." I took a deep breath before adding: "As am I."

The look on Eomer's face was that of confusion before it melted into a gentle and far less disturbed one. "You are a jewel milady. One that I do not deserve. I will strive to make you as happy as humanly possible. You have my word of honor." Eomer nodded deeply to me in respect. I felt flattered by his open and honest words and before I knew what I was doing, I released his hands and wrapped my arms around his neck in a tight embrace.