Work Text:
December 30, 3002
There were too many people. So many unfamiliar faces and strange voices speaking at once made Éowyn move closer to her brother’s side, turning her head so that her face was hidden between her hair and his tunic. Éomer tightened his arm about her shoulders protectively, but he seemed almost as overwhelmed by the swirl of servants and attendants that surrounded them as she was.
A man’s voice started to speak over all the other voices, taking charge of the situation, and slowly the cacophony subsided. Eventually even her nurse was sent away to oversee the unpacking.
After the noise had died down she dared to look out from her shelter with one eye and saw first a pair of battered riding boots. When their owner looked down at her she almost hid again, but Éomer didn’t seem to be nervous of him, and she took courage from that and stayed as she was. Also, the face of the young man seemed vaguely familiar, though she was too confused and disoriented by all that had happened this past week to place it. Perhaps he had been one of the many who had come to Aldburg to see her mother buried a week before, but she did not want to think of that day.
The man smiled warmly and spoke in a soft voice, “Greetings, cousins. Welcome to Meduseld.”
Cousins? Éowyn had heard often in these last few days that they were being sent to Meduseld to live with her uncle and cousin, but while she remembered her uncle from his visits to Aldburg she had no memory of this younger man. Éowyn turned her head a bit more, to look at him more closely, then gave a small gasp as what was familiar about the face clicked into place.
Her mother’s eyes! This stranger had her mother’s eyes…
It was too much to handle on top of the grief and chaos and upheaval. With a small sob she turned her face once again into her brother’s side, and clutched him tightly. Éomer rubbed her shoulder distractedly as he reached out with his free hand to clasp the other man’s arm. “Greetings, Cousin Théodred. Thank you…”
Éowyn looked out at the stranger again, and this time his blue eyes met hers, and he smiled kindly as he crouched down to be at her level. “You must be Éowyn. I saw you at Aldburg, but we have not truly met since you were just a very small child, I am afraid. But I have heard much about you.”
She gave no answer.
Éomer gave her a small nudge and whispered. “Éowyn, do not be rude. Greet our cousin as you have been taught.”
Still she hesitated.
“Éowyn!”
Éowyn looked up at her brother, and he gave a tiny jerk of his head towards their cousin. After taking a deep breath, she released her hold on him long enough to bob a quick and unsteady curtsy. Her words of greeting were spoken so softly that neither Théodred nor Éomer could make them out. Once the barest of courtesies had been observed she immediately retreated back to her shelter at her brother’s side. She felt him sigh in exasperation, but did not see her cousin’s sympathetic smile.
“I am sorry, cousin Théodred. She has always been rather quiet with all except us and her nurse, and now…”
Théodred held up a hand and gave a small shake of his head to stop Éomer from making any further explanations. “This has been a hard week for you both. A hard month. And now you are in place that you barely know, speaking to a cousin who is little more than a stranger...” He sighed, then stood. “Come, I will take you to your chambers now, and I will have your supper brought to you there tonight. Perhaps this will all be a little easier after a meal and some rest?”
Éomer looked down at his sister then back to his cousin, and nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
Smiling, Théodred shook his head. “Théodred will do, Éomer, or cousin if you prefer it.” He made a small motion with his hand to indicate a carved door set into the wall at the far end of the great hall, and started walking towards it. Éomer was already nearly as tall as his shoulder, but though Éowyn was tall for her age she did not reach much above his waist, so he shortened his stride to accommodate her as they walked. He spoke with Éomer about their travels from Aldburg, but Éowyn remained silent.
Behind the door was a hallway wide enough for three to walk abreast, and which ran parallel to the great hall. Leading them to the left, back towards the front of the building, they passed several doors that led off to their right.
Soon they came to a partly open doorway near the end of the hall, and Théodred stopped. “Éomer, this will be your room, if it is acceptable to you.” He motioned for Éomer to step inside, and Éowyn of course followed, her hand still fisted tightly in the back of her brother’s tunic.
After pushing the door fully open and taking a few steps inside Éomer stopped. Though he was able to keep his face carefully blank Théodred noticed that his shoulders slumped a little as he looked about the room that had been given to him.
It was rather bare, with only a bed pushed against the wall to the right and a chest of drawers against the wall to the left. There was a large fireplace in the wall opposite the bed, and a fire burned brightly there, adding warmth and light to the room. There was a small window in the wall directly across from the door, but while the thick shutters were pulled closed against the cold there were no curtains, and there were no wall hangings or other decorations on the walls. On the floor there was a thick rug of unbleached and undyed wool, bordered in a dark green. Matching blankets were piled on the foot of the bed, along with several pillows. The few things Éomer had brought with him from Aldburg, other than clothing, were placed neatly on top of the chest of drawers.
Théodred explained. “I did not have much brought in for you, as you are certainly old enough to choose for yourself what furnishings you require or want. Once you have settled in a little you are welcome to anything else that you would like, and any wall hangings or other decorations that may appeal to you. Even the rug can be changed, if you wish it. The room is yours, and it should be comfortable to you rather than being what someone else thinks you should like.”
As he spoke, Théodred had watched his cousin closely. Well did he remember the feeling of pride he had felt when given his first opportunities to make decisions for himself, when he had been about Éomer’s age, and he hoped that allowing the boy to have a say in how his room was furnished might have the same effect.
When Théodred has finished speaking Éomer looked up at him, and Théodred was pleased to see that his shoulders had straightened, and a faint spark of life showed in his eyes now and not just the blank look of grief that had been there before. He had made the right decision, it seemed, and it lightened the grief in his own heart a little.
He saw that Éowyn had moved a little away from her brother’s side as she had looked about the room, and he smiled warmly at her when her slow circle brought her to face him. “Would you like to see your room now, Éowyn?”
Watching her reach out and grab Éomer’s tunic made him lift one eyebrow slightly. The girl had quick reflexes, and hadn’t needed to look to know exactly where her target was. He had heard that Éomer was already showing Éomund’s skill with a sword, and he briefly wondered if Éowyn might have inherited it as well.
Éomer gave a barely audible sigh when he felt the tug on his tunic, but he put his arm around his sister’s shoulders again, and guided her patiently towards the door.
Théodred led them down the hallway but stopped before the next door, only a few feet away from Éomer’s. Pushing it open, he gave a theatrically exaggerated bow to Éowyn as he motioned for her to enter first. “Most fair lady, this will be your domain and abode. I hope it will be to your liking.”
Perhaps it was the flickering of the light provided by the torches in the hallway and the fire in the room, but he thought he might have seen her give a ghost of a smile as she left her brother’s side and entered the room.
Unlike Éomer’s room, hers was fully and comfortably furnished. The hearth was to the right of the doorway, backed against the hearth in Éomer’s room, and there was a chest of drawers against the wall to the left. As in Éomer’s room, the window was in the wall opposite the door, but here the shutters were covered in curtains intricately woven with patterns in many shades of green. Her bed also faced the hearth, but it was surrounded by heavy curtains of the same colors and pattern as those over the window. The blankets on the bed were the color of the goldenrod that bloomed in the fields in autumn, providing a pleasing contrast to the curtains. The rug on the floor was woven from the same shades of green and gold, with cream and a rich red worked into the pattern as well.
Shelves had been constructed against the wall between the chest of drawers and the hearth, and they were filled with many things. Carved horses paraded across them, ranging from crude to very fine indeed, as if to show how the skill of the carver had increased with time. There was an oval wooden tray with a child sized pewter pitcher and matching small cups, and a colorfully painted but well worn wooden top was tucked securely between the wall and a support.
In the center of the top shelf was a larger object wrapped in a white cloth. As Éowyn looked about the room Théodred walked silently to the shelf and picked it up before he crouched down where he was, facing the girl. “Éowyn?”
She turned to look at him with wary eyes, but this time she stood her ground by the bed rather than fleeing to her brother’s side. Théodred was pleased to see it, and smiled as he held the wrapped item out to her. “This once belonged to your mother. I thought you might like to have it now.”
After a moment her gaze shifted to he held, but she did not move towards him.
Slowly, Théodred removed the wrapping to reveal a cloth doll. It had long brown hair made of yarn that was almost dyed to almost exactly the color of Théodwyn’s, and blue eyes. It was dressed in a simple green dress, and the feet had been dipped in brown dye to give the appearance of shoes.
Here and there, especially on the arms, was darning, showing that the doll had been well used and lovingly repaired when worn.
Slowly, one cautious step at a time, Éowyn came towards her cousin, looking at the doll all the while. When she was almost within reach of the doll she stopped, and lifted her gaze to regard her cousin for a long moment, as if she was weighing the value of having the prize he held against the risk of coming close enough to claim it. He waited with understanding and patience born of teaching skittish colts to accept a bridle for the first time, the doll held out steadily in his hands.
At last she took the final step needed to close the distance between them, and she slowly picked up the doll with both hands. She held it up before her for a moment, and looked at it closely before running one hand gently along the braided hair. Finally she hugged the doll close to her chest as she looked at Théodred again, and she spoke to him clearly for the first time.
“Thank you. Cousin.”
Théodred’s smile was warm and bright, and this time she returned it with a tiny smile of her own.