Light of Edoras

Chapter 3

Eomer quickly thrust his sword up to block the blow towards his head. He grunted with the effort and glared at his opponent. He had not thought this person capable of the strength they were now exhibiting. With a growl, he shoved the sword away and immediately charged towards the other swordsman who danced around him with a cheeky smile. Eomer's brows furrowed. He was quickly tiring of his opponent's cocky attitude, and he was painfully aware that he was no match for the swordsman's light step. A wide grin spread across his face as his opponent danced closer to him. Eomer moved his foot just as his opponent came close to him and threw the opponent to the ground. The shocked swordsman dropped their sword and lay trying to catch their breath as Eomer pointed his sword at their neck.

"Do you yield?" he asked, a confident smile on his face.

Lyrian glared at him and kicked his feet out from under him and jumped onto his chest, a dagger against his throat and a cheeky grin on her face.

"Never."

Eomer looked down at what she was holding at his throat and back up at her, "That is a stick you found on the ground!"

Lyrian laughed as she jumped off of him and helped to pull him up, "But it would have been a real dagger had I actually been fighting."

Eomer looked down at her. Even though she had grown over the past five years, he was still a head taller. He scoffed as he picked up his and Lyrian's practice swords from the ground throwing Lyrian hers, "In a real battle, I would not have held back-"

"Well," Lyrian interrupted with a loud sigh, they had had this argument more times than she could count, "In a real battle, I would have shot you down before you pulled out your sword."

Eomer chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Besides," Lyrian continued, "had you not tripped me, I may have beaten you this time."

Eomer scoffed at this as he threw his sword towards the armory nodding at the smithy, "You hardly know how to use a sword," he said teasingly.

Lyrian swung her sword in a circle twice before holding it directly in front of her, "Sure I do," she said tossing back and forth in her hands, she looked at it for a moment studying it before looking up at Eomer, brows furrowed in concentration, "stick 'em with the pointy end."

Eomer shoved her with a grin as he marched up the hill towards the main hall. Lyrian ran to the smithy and plopped her sword on the pile of the training swords before running to catch up to Eomer.

Theoden walked, as he often did when Theodred was on patrol, around the outer corridors of Meduseld when he noticed Eomer and Lyrian strolling through the heart of Edoras. Theoden smiled at the change Lyrian had brought out in Eomer. While he still exhibited the explosive temper of his father, Lyrian, more often than not, was there to bring him back to reality. The two had truly become inseparable over the past years. While more often than not, the two were being punished with extra work in the stables for their adventures and mischief, Theoden would not have had it any other way.

The loud thundering of hooves made Eomer look towards the gate of Edoras to see Theodred galloping into the city with his eored behind him.

"Theodred!" Lyrian called out, running after the horses until she caught up with him.

Eomer followed quickly, not wanting to miss a word of what his cousin was about to say.

Lyrian stood rubbing the nose of Theodred's horse, Brego, "What news have you heard, Theodred?" she asked, though most of her conversation was directed towards the horse.