Only Time

Ch. 42 ~ Good Things

    In the first decade or so after the Great War is when many of the good things happened. Being in a place of peace was heavenly for all of the inhabitants of Middle-Earth as we had had battles, fear, great losses, and many unknown factors for so long that it seemed everyone was constantly holding their collective breath. But not anymore. Everyone was happy and looking forward toward the future. That could not have been more the case as the two letters that arrived in Rivendell at almost the same time though by different couriers. Both were wedding invitations; the first was from Faramir and Eowyn of Ithilien who were ready to tie themselves to each other in every way possible. The second was from Eomer and his bride to be wed in Rohan only two days later. Brother and sister were finally ready to get their futures going.

    We had all heard by then that Sam had gotten wed to Rosie Cotton just as he had always wished. And though we were all invited, we did not go so not to confuse the dear people of Hobbitown as to how someone as presumably simple as Sam, knew all of these royals from different lands. We all did wish him and his new wife peace and love for eternity. When I showed the letters to my uncle, he smiled. He and my aunt were not going to attend the weddings but he highly encouraged Legolas and me to do so. We were going to anyways; these were our eternal friends and companions in battle so it was quite natural to do just that.

    A day before Eowyn and Faramir's wedding; we rode out of Rivendell in high spirits. It was wonderful to think how far both of them had come. We brought gowns with us and rode in regular wear. As we were riding side by side and just gazing at the beautiful land around us, I had a vision of a woman with bright red hair and piercing green eyes. She was standing near Eomer and smiling. I knew then that it was his future bride. Legolas saw the faraway look on my face and slowed down to see if there was trouble; but I just smiled as this woman's whole life flashed before my eyes.

    It turned out that she was a commoner; there was not any royal blood in her but Eomer knew she was the one when he first spotted her in Minas Tirith during the final battle. The only ironic connection she had to Rohan was that her father was a distant relative of the deceased Hama who was part of the late King Theoden's guard. I told Legolas what I was seeing and he smiled. It did not matter to either of us that Eomer fell in love with a commoner. All that mattered was their happiness. We knew we would meet her in Ithilien.

    As we arrived at the gates, we were the last of those invited to get there. I saw Arwen and Aragorn speaking with Faramir and Eowyn. I was also pleased to see Mithrandir who would be preforming the ceremony; he winked at me as we arrived. I looked around and saw Eomer standing a bit away with a woman that I saw in my vision. I smiled at him then and he raised his eyebrows. He knew of my gift of foresight so I obviously saw something that had to do with him and his betrothed. To both Legolas' and my pleasant surprise, we saw Merry and Pippin there too. They waved at us happily as the rest of the people of Ithilien bowed to us. I looked at Faramir and Eowyn as I felt Sunset wanting to do what he did best so I let him.

    Right then and there amongst many people, Sunset reared back on his hind legs and stood there as I held him steady. He stood as magnificent as a statue for a whole minute as everyone watched in amazement. He neighed loudly and then returned to his normal stance as with a smile, I explained to both Eowyn and Faramir what he had done:

"Sunset wanted to show you that he honors you and is congratulating you on your upcoming wedding and coronation."

    People were awestruck by the black stallion with crystal blue eyes. At that point, both Legolas and I got off of our respective steeds and while they were led away towards the stables, we hugged our friends and congratulated everyone on their upcoming nuptials. Eomer then came up to me with his future bride and asked to speak with me in private. I nodded and the three of us walked off to the side. As soon as we were more or less out of earshot, he asked me: