Notes: Hey guys!

This is just a silly and simple one shot to share with you. I love this couple and we don't have nearly enough things about them.

This is not beta-read, but I hope you can ejoy it anyway.

Éomer King felt wary in a way he'd never felt before. And they'd just won a war. However, the reality of being the king hadn't hit him until recently, when Aragorn invited him for a council.

He was the King of the Mark.

The people depended on him.

His land was devastated.

It was a lot to process.

So, even though they were in the middle of the victory celebrations, he didn't feel exactly like celebrating.

Cormallen was full of nobles that kept arriving each and every day, bringing their families to celebrate the defeat of Sauron.

For the last 3 days they had parties with music and ale that went well into the night. Éomer himself could only think where all this food was coming from, and that made him think of how he was going to feed his people through winter…

Not happy thoughts.

The night before he'd decided to stay on his tent and drink alone. Now he was feelings its effects. He decided to take a quick dip on the near stream to clear his head; then he'd growled when Éothain decided to follow him with two guards.

He'd put his feet down when they wanted to watch over him, because he wasn't defenseless, and he really wanted some peace and quiet. Éothain grumbled about stubborn asses, but eventually let go. Since Éomer had been proclaimed King, Éothain had been guarding him with single-minded devotion.

It was a little bit concerning.

Éomer approached the stream, then undressed completely. The water was cool, but in the Mark it'd be cooler, so it hardly bothered him. The fact that the water only reached the middle of his thigh was a bit more bothersome, but he could always crouch down.

He'd just started splashing some water on his chest when he heard a suspicious sound coming from behind some rocks.

Éomer stopped for a second, trying hard to hear something else. There it was again! The sound of splash and… Did he see a flash of black hair picking from behind the rock? He tried to move silently back to the bank of the stream and grabbed a dagger. He approached the rocks quietly, arm ready to strike.

The formation of it was tall enough to hide a person, so he was careful as he prepared to face this possible spy. Then he circled it and found Prince Imrahil's daughter -Princess Lothíriel -hiding behind it.

"Béma's balls!" He barked.

And her eyes went inevitably to his balls. Not that hard since he was standing, and she was crouched, and basically at eye level already. He had a second to notice she was wearing a white shift, that was completely drenched and gave quite a tantalizing view of her nipples, before Éothain and the other two guards came crashing through the trees, swords in hand. (Later Éomer would discuss with Éothain the fact that he'd obviously stayed closer than he was ordered).

The appearance of three armed men made the princess scream, a shrill sound that made Éomer's ears ring.

The King turned to his men. "Turn your backs now!" He ordered.

Fortunately, the princess was still crouching, and his body was in front of hers.

Unfortunately, the princess's scream attracted attention.

"Lothíriel! What happened?" Prince Amrothos demanded coming from the other bank, Prince Erchirion right behind him.

Basically, her brothers arrived at the scene just in time to see Éomer's exposed ass while their baby sister was just there.

"What' the meaning of this?" Erchirion roared.

Éomer instinctively turned to them. "It's not what you think!" He hurried to say.

"Éomer, cover yourself, you fucker!" Amrothos demanded.

"Oh fuck!" Éomer groaned, going back to the shore to recover his pants.

"Erchirion, calm down." The princess was saying. "I can explain."

"Explain what, exactly?"

Éomer's blood froze, because -as he stood there, still pulling his pants up -Aragorn, Faramir and Lothíriel's father and eldest brother arrived at the scene.

Brilliant.

XxX

Éomer felt like a misbehaving child as he stood -now clothed -in front of Aragorn and Prince Imrahil. Éothain was to his left, a bit behind, while the princess was on his right. Her brothers and Faramir were all standing there, the three princes glaring at him.

Éomer couldn't believe this was happening to him.

As the princess's father took in the scene by the stream, it became quite clear they would need to discuss the subject. Éomer dressed quickly and dismissed the two guards, giving very strict orders for them to keep quiet; he1d not have anyone spreading stories about the princess.

He'd met her two nights ago; he'd heard many stories about her. Her father obviously doted on his only daughter, while her brothers spoke of her with fond exasperation. Imrahil would speak of how smart she was, Elphir would talk about her smartasseness. The prince spoke of her grace, Amrothos liked to tell a story about the princess falling into a puddle. The father spoke of how mature she was, Erchirion said she believed mermaids were real until she was 13.

He'd wanted to meet her from these stories and when he finally got the chance, he was overwhelmed by her beauty: the doe eyes, the black hair, the full lips…

Princess Lothíriel was beautiful.

He hadn't managed to talk much to her; many people demanded his attention that night. The princess let him go only after he promised to save some time to show her the horses.

And now this.

He was pretty sure Aragorn was trying not to laugh, the traitor. Imrahil looked exasperated by the whole situation, and the princess…

"Father, this is absolutely ridiculous." She rolled her eyes. "It was merely a misunderstanding. This whole circus is unnecessary."

Imrahil let out a long-suffering sigh. "Lothíriel…"

"Unnecessary?" Erchirion was fuming. "You saw him naked!"

"I didn't even look." She replied, but then her eyes took a specific glint, one that Éomer recognized from Amrothos; one that meant he was about to say something that would get him in trouble, but he'd say it anyway. The princess had that look in her eyes.

"Much." She finished, her lips twitching.

Imrahil sighed, like he was somewhat expecting something like that, while her brothers exploded in protests and Faramir looked a bit green. Aragorn was pressing his fist to his mouth -likely trying not to laugh -while Éothain was coughing in the most peculiar way.

Lothíriel just looked unrepentant.

Had she looked? Well, she had for that second, but did she actually see anything? There was water and the shock…

Though… He had seen her nipples quite clearly, so…

There was a voice in the back of his head wondering if she'd been impressed by what she'd seen.

"Imrahil." Éomer called, trying to calm everybody down. "I know it looks bad, but it was an accident. I decided to wash in the stream, when I arrived I didn't see anyone. I heard a noise and when I went to investigate the princess was there."

"I was leaning against the rocks." Lothíriel sighed. "That is why you didn't see me. I heard you coming in, and I was trying to leave without you seeing me. But you did anyway."

"My prince." Éothain cleared his throat. "If I may?"

Imrahil nodded so the man could carry on. "We followed King Éomer to the stream, and we also didn't see anyone, so we left. It is also our responsibility."

Imrahil was shaking his head -Éomer guessed he was refuting any claim that Éothain was somehow at fault for this mess -when Elphir intervened.

"As far as we know they could have decided to meet secretly!"

Lothíriel looked at her older brother as if he was the stupidest person she'd ever seen. "So from the 5 minutes I talked to him two nights ago, I was so overcome with passion that I told him to meet me naked in a very public location? The same one I invited my brothers to come to as well?" She asked, her voice drier than the desert.

Elphir sputtered for a while, clearly realizing the stupidity of his accusation.

"When you put it like that, Lotty…" Amrothos drawled.

"They will have to marry, logically." Erchirion piped in.

Everybody became deadly quiet.

They would have to do what, now?

Amrothos -the little shit -snickered. "Great idea."

"Excuse you?" Lothíriel hissed at her brother.

"You see, Lotty…" Elphir started placatingly. "You did see him naked, and now…"

"If you three had to marry every woman you ever saw naked, by now you all would have harems!" She exploded.

"It is different! We are all m…" Amrothos elbowed Erchirion's side quite roughly, but it was too late. It was more than a bit obvious how Erchirion intended to finish that sentence.

"You're all what?" She demanded.

"Enough." Imrahil asked. "Lothíriel, Éomer. Was it truly a terrible coincidence?" He asked seriously.

"Yes, father." Lothíriel confirmed.

"Yes, Imrahil." Éomer also said.

"And you had no intention of seeing each other in such a state?" He pushed.

Éomer prayed the princess wouldn't think that this was a good time to make a joke.

"No." Both said at the same time.

"Imrahil." Aragorn called softly. "I know it is your daughter and this is no light matter, but making them marry over that? I believe that everyone here will be respectful enough of both parties that rumors won't spread. And I believe their words."

"So do I." Imrahil admitted in a sigh. "Fine. No marriage. However…" Here he gave both of them a firm stare. "No meeting alone for both of you. From now on you can only talk if you have a chaperone."

"Father!" Lothíriel protested.

"It is that or marriage, Lothíriel." Imrahil warned her very seriously.

Lothíriel sighed. "Fine."

Imrahil gave Éomer a look. "It is fine, of course." The young King agreed easily.

"I am glad this is settled." Aragorn declared, with more cheer than the situation warranted, so Éomer summarized he was as eager to end this conversation as everybody else was.

Upon everybody's agreement the group started to dispel, Elphir still grumbling about how they should marry and Faramir patting his back comfortingly. Éothain passed him and gave his king an amused smile.

One by one they all left, until Éomer was alone. He sighed.

"Well, at least we don't need to get married."

Éomer jumped at the voice, turning to find that the princess was still there.

"My Lady." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I didn't see you there."

"It is fine. I'm leaving before they actually make us get married." She chuckled.

Éomer couldn't help but chuckle a bit too. This situation had been beyond ridiculous.

"Princess." He called, when she was about to leave the tent.

"Yes?" She looked at him over her shoulder.

"Did you really look?" He asked, because he needed to know.

Her grin was mischievous. "Oh yes. And if you want a chance to look too… I have a sudden desire for a midnight swim in a stream… Just in case." She winked at him before leaving.

Oh he was in trouble… Serious trouble…

He was getting that midnight swim anyway.

Notes: I hope you enjoyed it!

For the ones who read my other Éomer/Lothíriel fanfic... Bad news, guys… My life is about to be turned upside down. I quit my job, but I still have to stick around for a month to help until they find a replacement. However, I still have to start working on the new place, so for a month I will have two jobs. That means I am so fucked right now. So… It's very unlikely I will manage to write anything for the next month… But life is life. I hope you guys don't give up on me!

Cheers!