On the Wings of the Storm

Chapter 25

My whole body ached. With a groan I turned over onto my stomach and tried to burrow deeper into my bedclothes. The sudden movement sent a twinge of pain up my back and an abused muscle in my shoulder throbbed in sympathy. From somewhere the sound of muted voices reached me.

I did not want to wake up. My mind groped for the remnants of my dreams. Dreams such as I had not had for months, filled with laughter and happiness. And another sensation, bone melting and entirely delicious. I wanted to dive back into the ocean of sleep and lose myself in its pleasant currents. If only I did not hurt so much!

All over my body small aches and pains clamoured for attention. Reluctantly I opened my eyes. Brown canvas wall met my sight, backlit by the sun. Already the inside of the tent was warming up, the air turning stuffy. I rolled onto my back, ignoring protesting muscles, and stretched my arms. The events of the previous night came floating back into my mind and a wave of contentment swept through me. Éomer believed me! Had kissed me. Wanted to marry me.

Outside, the voices had got louder. I distinguished my brother's cultured tones and another, deeper one. A voice that sent a shiver of pleasant anticipation down my spine. For a while I just lay there and listened to the familiar cadence of his words, simply content with knowing he was close. Then slowly the meaning of his words penetrated my sleep-fogged mind.

"... make sure the princess has taken no harm," Éomer was just saying.

"Lothíriel is fine," my brother answered. "Like I said, she just needs plenty of rest."

"I would like to take my leave of her personally," Éomer answered.

Take his leave? That brought me wide-awake. Where was he going? All of a sudden the answer dawned on me: home!

My heart plummeted. I had not thought one moment past the fact that he loved me. But he could hardly keep his whole army waiting around on his pleasure and neither could he return to Minas Tirith with me. Fool!

"That's not necessary, Éomer, my friend," Amrothos assured him. "I can tell her you asked after her. She won't mind."

I did not wait to hear Éomer's answer. Ignoring my aching limbs, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and scrambled to my feet. What to wear? Last night I had borrowed one of my brother's shirts for a nightgown, not exactly suitable attire. But what if Éomer decided to leave without seeing me! I snatched a blanket from the bed and wrapped it round me. Then I rushed outside.

To my surprise I found that my tent was the last one left standing and all around us servants were in the process of dismantling the camp. Éomer and Amrothos slewed round at my precipitous exit from the tent.

"Lothíriel!" my brother exclaimed. "What are you doing out here?"

"You are leaving?" I took a step towards Éomer.

And promptly tripped over my blanket. Strong arms caught me before I could do more than exclaim in alarm.

"Be careful!" He took hold of me and steadied me.

I put my hands against his chest and looked up at him. "Éomer, are you leaving?"

"I have to..."

"Lothíriel!" my brother interrupted us. "Look at you!" He grabbed the blanket that had started to slip and wrapped it more firmly around me.

Reluctantly Éomer let go of me, his hands lingering for a moment on my waist. "My men have left already, but I wanted to say good-bye."

To say good-bye when I had only just found him again! Looking down towards the river, I saw that his riders had crossed the stream to follow the Great West Road, the long line snaking off into the distance. At a loss for words, I clutched my blanket closer around me.