The Hobbit / LOTR -oneshots

Blood red and green - Eomér

Warnings: -
Word count: 1804
Other: -

Eomér is expected to marry a woman to be his queen as he is next to the throne after his uncle decides to step down. However, no woman in Edoras seems to catch his eye, no matter how hard they try. When their allies from the east arrive to help in the war against Sauron and Saruman, he meets the woman who steals his heart the moment he lays his eyes on her.

The tension was clear in the air as the people of Edoras waited for the Cravel army to arrive. They had been allies with the Rohan people for centuries, but they were a private people and therefore visits were rare. Now, however, they were riding to help them in the war. Eomer shifted his weight from one leg to another, trying not to roll his eyes at the group of ladies who were giggling close to him, batting their eyelashes at him. He had met every maiden in the kingdom at least once, and none of them had sparked any interest in his heart. He let out a quiet sigh, which caught Eowyn's attention.
"Something bothering you?" She followed her brother's gaze to the group of women who were still giggling and were now slowly trying to inch closer to the future king. Eowyn gave them a hard glare, and they disappeared into the crowd while muttering something.

A horn sounded, and the king and Eomer's uncle, king Theoden smiled.
"They are here." Soon, they heard the rumble of tens of hooves on the ground, and the guards pushed the gates open. Everyone held their breaths, waiting for the first horses to appear. It was said that only the people of Cravel could rival Rohan in the skills of horsemanship. It was said that their horses were specially trained and their tack was made for one purpose only. War. They didn't have to wait long until the first horses appeared through the gates.

The king of Cravel wasn't hard to identify. He rode a large brown stallion, the crest of his family, a black horse on a red background, sewn into his clothes and the tack of his horse. The man halted his horse in the large clearing and looked around him through the slits of his helmet. Another horse followed, pressing its ears pressed to its head tightly. This one was white, but it wasn't a dainty mare with a flowing mane that was ridden only by fancy ladies. No. This horse was tacked and trained to war, its mane short and eyes blazing. Muscles bulged under its coat as it stomped the ground, ears pinned back. The animal drew envious gazes from around the kingdom's guards. While the horse was the target of adoration for most people, Eomer's gaze was captured by its rider.

She was dressed in a blood-red gown, and it moved slowly around her as she descended from the saddle. Her hair was windswept and she held herself high, a small smile on her lips as she stroked the neck of her horse. But it was her eyes that caught Eomer's attention. They were bright and had an enchanting color to them. They shone with wisdom and kindness, yet it was clear that she wasn't a usual lady.

- - -

A feast was being held in honor of their guests, but Eomer wasn't able to spot the lady that had charmed him. He had met her two sisters, both of them polite and well-mannered, but hadn't had the chance to ask them who the woman was or where she might be. They had been whisked away by a pair of his guards to the dance floor. He looked around the room, his hope of finding the woman slowly sinking.
"Eomer!" At his uncle's call, he walked to the other side of the room where he was waiting with the king and queen of Cravel.
"May I introduce my nephew and the heir to the throne of Rohan?" Eomer bowed to the pair.
"An honor to meet you." The king nodded and the queen curtsied to acknowledge his words the king studied Eomer with his eyes as he was still looking around the hall for a glimpse of the woman.
"My daughter caught your eye, didn't she?" Eomer yanked his head to the king. Had his admiration towards the woman been that obvious?
"I-I mean no disrespect to her, my lord-" He was cut off by a booming laugh.
"Don't apologize, young man. My Y/N is an exquisite young woman, I am happy that she has caught your eye." Eomer was confused for a moment but it was quickly pushed aside by the fact that he now knew your name. Y/N.
"About time someone noticed her." Your mother muttered, and your father gave her a glance.
"If you want to find her, I would look first where her horse is. She loves that animal." Your mother wasn't very happy that you weren't as ladylike as she wished, but your happiness was more important to her. If you wanted to ride instead of doing needlework, she was okay with it. Her only worry had been that she wouldn't find a suitor as you were not the perfect lady many men wanted to marry. Eomer glanced at his uncle who gave him a small nod and gestured with his hand toward the door. His heart sped up as he bowed shortly as a goodbye and left their presence.

- -

Eomer was holding a bouquet of meadow flowers in his other hand and an apple in the other as he made his way into the stables. He heard you before he could see you, you were humming a song he couldn't recognize. He turned the corner and saw you sitting on a bale of hay next to the stall of your horse, whose name he had heard was Argo, as she was eating. He cleared his throat to gain your attention, and your head shot up from the palm of your hand where it had been resting.
"Oh, prince Eomer. Can I help you?" You were deeply confused. Why was the prince here when there was a feast going on? He grinned sheepishly and handed the flowers to you.
"I brought you these." You blushed bright red, taking the flowers from him with shaking hands.
"T-Thank you," You admired the small bouquet, no man had ever presented you with flowers. Apparently, you weren't ladylike enough. Argo leaned her head over the gate, sniffing the flowers, but you pushed her head away before she could eat them.
"And I brought her this." He held out the apple, and Argo's ears perked up. You smiled at how considerate he was but suspected your father had something to do with this. He had hinted at you earlier that the heir of Rohan had seemed interested in you, but you had just waved him off. You knew your father's tricks, and he knew that the most important thing to you in the world was Argo and that being nice to her was a good start. He had done it before, hinting an interested suitor to get to know your horse, but Argo was not an easy horse to handle and could sense if someone was unsure or even worse, arrogant. But Eomer seemed neither as he approached the gate, holding out the apple to your mare. She sniffed it a couple of times before taking a bite out of it, chewing happily. When she was done with the first half, she gently picked up the remaining half from Eomer's palm, making the man smile.

He shifted his weight from one leg to another. Normally, he would have asked you for a walk with him, but you weren't that kind of a lady. You stroked Argo's neck as she peeked over the door again, ears perked up, hoping that there would be more treats.
"Would you like to come for a ride with me? We could go to the outskirts of Fangorn, the trees are massive." You smiled at him, happy that he hadn't asked you to walk with him, it was so tedious.
"I would love to, but Argo needs to rest after the journey we just took." Eomer could hear the slight hint of sadness in your voice.
"We could take my horse. He can carry both of us." He muttered, not sure if it was too forward.
"Oh. If you don't mind sharing a horse, then I have no objections." Eomer smiled at you, gesturing you to sit.
"Of course not. Let me get him ready."

Riding on Firefoot was different than on Argo. The stallion was bigger and definitely wider, and his movements weren't as smooth as Argo's. You would have definitely fallen off a few times unless Eomer's arms hadn't been on each side of you. The closeness of him made your face flush, and you focused on your surroundings, admiring the vast open grassland as Firefoot galloped towards your goal, The Fangorn forest. The trees sat tall on the horizon, but when you reached the forest, you were amazed at their size. You couldn't stretch your arms around even if you tried, the trunk was too wide to reach. While you brush your fingers on the old and mossy trunks of the trees, you and Eomer began talking, only stopping when Eomer notes it was coming dark soon.

The journey back was uneventful, not including the fact that you had nearly fallen off yet again and Eomer had been the only thing that held you up until you gained your balance. When you reached the stables, Eomer helped you down from the saddle, and you took notice of the many sour expressions of ladies around you. You still held your head high and followed Eomer into the stables where he handed the reins to a stableboy, patting Firefoot as a thank you. You were slightly hesitant in approaching the large stallion but still rubbed his forehead as a thank you. The muscular horse pressed his head more towards you, and Eomer let out a laugh.
"He likes you." With one last scratch, you allowed the stableboy to take the horse away, and you turned to Eomer.
"Would you mind walking with me? I feel like our conversation was interrupted when we reached Fangorn?" Eomer was stunned for a moment before he smiled and offered you his arm.
"Not at all."

This idea has been going around in my head since I started this book and now I finally got it out! Feels good. I have started writing it a couple of times but it has not come out the way I wanted so I have just ended up deleting it.