Disclaimer: The usual…these characters don’t belong to me (wistful sigh…) but to J.R.R. Tolkien and to New Line, Peter, Fran, and Philippa. I make no profit from this story, but please review!

Author’s Notes: I have, of course, entirely made up the ceremony described in this tale, but with utmost respect to Rohan as JRR Tolkien wrote it. This was originally written for Marigold's 12th challenge.

***

Riders of Rohan

By Songspinner

***

"Well, that’s done it." Pippin grinned at his cousin. "You’ve finally startled her speechless."

Meriadoc Brandybuck watched his wife with delight as they reined in their ponies for a moment. Estella Brandybuck looked upward with brown eyes grown wide with astonishment, and then turned back to look at him again. "Oh, Merry! You said it was magnificent, but…oh!"

Her husband smiled and tightened his arm around their wiggling daughter before she could fall off the pony they rode. Edoras sat above them on the hill, the gilded figureheads of horses on the roof glistening in the sun and bright banners fluttering in the ever-present breeze. "Yes, I did say so. And it will be even more magnificent inside, my dearest."

With a happy sigh, Merry let his own eyes feast on this most beloved place. He’d missed it and his friends within all these years, and just barely managed to restrain himself from bouncing in the saddle as 9-year-old Wyn had done most of the trip. The invitation from King Eomer had reached them a few weeks before and the Master of Buckland had hastily sent a reply and confirmation.

And of course, the Thain had insisted upon joining them as soon as he heard of the journey. So Pippin rode beside him with his own small son in front of him on their pony. His wife, Diamond had stayed behind for this trip; the healers said that her pregnancy came before travel, and so she stayed in the Shire. She had, after all, been to visit Minas Tirith several years before, and so did not mind taking over the Smials for a month or two. Travelling was not her favorite thing to do, and she preferred to remain in the Shire this time, she said. Little Faramir was quite excited by the idea of taking a journey out of the Shire with his father.

As they rode through the town and approached the main steps of the Hall, Merry’s mind filled with memories of Theoden King. Those memories faded swiftly as he saw his shield-sister Eowyn standing at the top of the steps, her golden hair streaming out into the wind and a welcoming smile on her face. Dismounting the pony as quickly as he could without dislodging Wyn, he ran up the steps.

Eowyn fell to one knee to better embrace him, and her strong arms wrapped him tightly. "Ah, I’ve missed you, Knight of the Riddermark and Master of Buckland. I’ve missed you so much." Her voice, muffled though it was in the green velvet of his tunic, rang with joy.

Merry smiled and hugged her back. "And I you, Princess of Ithilien and Rohan." It was an old joke between them, repeated in letter after letter. They both felt the frustrating but wonderful tug between two much loved places. He rested his forehead briefly against hers in the greeting he’d seen Theoden use with her many times. As she stood up, he slid his hand into hers to keep her close for a moment, and she squeezed back. He could feel the sword and rein calluses on her slender hands in addition to the newer ones from the healing profession, proof that Princess or no, Eowyn hadn’t changed a great deal.

Faramir had finished hugging Pippin and his own namesake, tousled the Thain’s curls with no regard whatsoever for age, protocol, or dignity, and came to greet Merry with a fond embrace. "Merry, it is good to see you well and happy. And thank you for bringing your cousin along."

And do you think that I had a choice in the matter?" Merry laughed, and the Prince cocked his head to the side in wry acknowledgement of his point.

"True." Faramir admitted, and gestured toward the steps. "The King awaits us in the Golden Hall. I believe he felt that formal introduction was in the plans for today."

Merry helped Estella down from her pony. "That is quite a bad attitude from one who sets an example at Court, you know." He teased, and Eowyn smacked him on the shoulder.

"Merry, don’t encourage him. He complains enough as it is." She grinned at him and at her husband, and came to greet Estella and Wyn. The little hobbit was hiding behind her mother shyly, peeking out at this Big Person for whom she’d been named. "Hullo, little one." Eowyn said softly. "I’ve been waiting and waiting to meet you."

Merry watched as his daughter smiled and nodded, grey eyes sparkling.

"The hill is steep, Merry. Shall I carry her up to the Hall?" Eowyn asked.

"If she wants it." Merry answered, raising an eyebrow at his child, who nodded again.

"Oh, yes, Da! Please?" Wyn pleaded, and seeing his nod, raised her arms to be lifted up. Eowyn swung the little hobbit up onto her hip as the adult hobbits gave their ponies over to the stablemen who’d come out to greet them. They started up the steps and reached the great doors of the Hall.

Eowyn set down her little namesake, and with a wink to the Door Warden, Merry took his wife’s hand on one side and his daughter’s on the other. They followed Eowyn and Faramir into the hall, and Pippin and his son followed close behind.

Eomer and Lothriel sat on the thrones at the end of the hall, tapestries intricate with horses and knotwork framing them against the stones and wood of the Great Hall. The King’s face was solemn as Merry let go of Estella’s hand to put his fist to his heart with a low bow. The man rose and strode to the edge of the dais.

"Rise, Sir Meriadoc of Rohan and the Shire. We welcome you back with open arms and joyful hearts. May you and your family find peace within our walls and fields." Eomer’s deep voice rang to the very edges of the Hall.

Merry rose and met his Lord’s eyes for a long moment before both broke into smiles. Laughing, Eomer came to greet his friend less formally. Clapping the hobbit hard enough on the back to rock him onto his heels for a moment, the man bent to kiss Estella’s hand. "Lady Estella, welcome to Rohan."

"Your majesty." Estella ducked into a trembling curtsy in front of him, and Merry took her hand again. Despite Merry’s warning, it still startled her to hear herself referred to as a lady here, a knight’s wife. And from royalty, at that.

"It’s all right, my dear." Merry muttered a bit louder than was strictly necessary. "I’ve always told you that Men aren’t as scary as is thought by most hobbits."

Raising an eyebrow, the King looked at his friend. "Oh, well with that sort of tribute from one of my best knights…" he muttered in mock indignation, and then couldn’t control his smile. "But I jest, my lady. It is wonderful to see you again. And with families of your own."

"Indeed. Diamond is expecting again, so she has stayed back in the Shire this trip." Pippin said, glancing up at Lothriel’s swelling abdomen. "You seem to be adding to your own dynasty, my lady. My congratulations to both of you."

The Queen smiled down at the hobbits. "In early summer, I believe. Our sons are in the nursery at the moment, napping alongside their cousins. But I am sure they would like to play later on." She directed this last at Pippin’s son, who perked up immediately. "But you must be weary from travel. Lady Estella, let me show you to our guest quarters and the nursery."

****

The moonlight shone through the window, casting scrollwork shadow across the huge bed. Merry cuddled against his wife, who smelled of lavender soap and rosewater. The familiar scents from the Shire seemed almost odd in this setting, as he got used to Edoras again.

"Merry?" she whispered against his shoulder.

"Mmm?"

"This ceremony tomorrow…you know that I trust you’d never put our daughter in any danger, but…it is safe, isn’t it?"

He twisted around until he could see her face, and reached out to brush one dark curl away from her eyes. "Of course it’s safe. And Eowyn and I will ride beside her as her sponsors."

"Eowyn and Faramir have beautiful children, Merry. So welcoming and they pulled Wyn right into their games."

"She looks happy." Merry murmured, and gently stroked her cheek with his hand. "And I’m so glad she’s found a life she loves."

"I’m going to lose the two of you for a bit on this visit while you talk about healing and herbs, aren’t I?" Estella said, not really sounding upset about it.

"Oh, probably." After a quiet moment of thought, Merry laughed softly into her hair.

"And what is so amusing, husband-mine?" Estella asked, tracing the lines of his face in return of his caresses.

"I just had a particular memory spring to mind, of Pippin when he went home for a visit from Crickhollow. Three years or so after we returned to the Shire. He’d met Diamond before, you know. They knew each other when they were just becoming tweens, but he saw her sitting with his sisters. They were embroidering something or other and she was playing her harp."

"And saw her a bit differently, I’m guessing?" She smiled at the thought.

"Well, yes. He said that she looked as though she were where the Valar intended her to be and doing what they intended her to do, and that’s why she looked so beautiful. Seemed rather bewildered about it, if I recall. I teased him about it for days, but he was right." Merry lay back against the huge pillows. "And now, seeing Eowyn with her family, free from what she endured for so long, what we fought together…she was so sad when I met her, so out of place in her own home."

"She’s found her place, dearest." Estella said softly, snuggling into his side under the warm blankets. "As we’ve found ours together. And meeting her now…you chose well when you chose our daughter’s name."

"Thank you, ‘Stella. She hasn’t changed in some ways, though, and most of them are the ways our little our lass takes after her in more than name. I think that she has a special pony in mind, hidden away for Wyn in the stables. I suspect that Wyn will be introduced to it in the morning, after breakfast…if she can wait that long, that is. Horses in Rohan are the finest anywhere, you know."

She smiled at him, shaking her head in fond exasperation. "Yes, I do know, my love, as you’ve told me hundreds of times. Possibly thousands…."

Growling playfully, Merry pounced sideways to tickle his wife in revenge for her teasing. "Oh, boring now, am I?"

"N…no, never…" Estella managed to say rather breathlessly as his hands began to do things other than tickling. "Hush, you’ll wake Wyn. She’s only in the next room."

***

Despite a certain amount of distraction on the way to it, they slept well,

worn out from the long days of travel. The sun had barely risen when Merry and Estella found a certain hobbit lass fairly dancing on the bed between them. "Mama, Papa…wake up!"

"Wyn, is it even morning yet, imp?"

"It is close enough to morning, Papa."

With a sigh and a good-morning kiss for her husband, Estella sat up and grabbed her daughter mid-jump before she could fall off the man-sized bed. "Right. Let’s get you dressed, then. Before you end up breaking something. Or someone."

It was a much quieter child that accompanied her parents down for breakfast. Wyn had probably, Merry thought, begun to think about that afternoon’s plans. He watched as she lifted her face for a kiss from her Uncle Pippin and let him lift her onto the wooden bench.

And a few hours later found the two cousins and their families watching from a high balcony as the townspeople bustled about the streets. Pippin and Merry held their children up to look, as they were tall enough to do so, and Wyn exclaimed in glee at the veritable rainbow of bright colors of clothing and flower wreaths below.

"Ah, here you are." Eowyn cried as she came out onto the balcony. "I’ve the wreath for you, Wyn." She knelt down, sweeping the brown and green skirts of her riding dress out of the way. "I asked them to make it just your size, you see."

Wyn reached up one tiny hand to touch the wreath that now graced her tumbling curls. "They’re beautiful."

"Well," Eowyn said, rising to lean on the parapet, "I asked them to have green and white in it, and yellow, for I remember your father wearing a yellow vest when we first met."

"Is it because it’s spring now that all the children wear wreaths, then?"

Wyn asked, curious.

"Yes, it is." Eomer joined his sister and leaned back against the stones. "I remember a certain girl fussing over what colors hers would contain."

"Who would that be, brother-mine?" Eowyn inquired with an all-too-innocent face, making the children giggle and Merry and Pippin exchange smiling glances.

"Eowyn?" Wyn said, tugging at the woman’s embroidered sleeve, her face suddenly serious. "Will it be all right that I’ve dressed this way? Like we do in the Shire, I mean? I don’t look as fancy as them that are down there. I’ve been practicing my riding every day with Papa, really I have, and he let me ride his pony for a while yesterday, and…"

"Ah, Wyn." And Merry hugged his daughter around her shoulders. "No one will mind. You’re dressed fancy enough for the daughter of the Master of Buckland and a Knight of Rohan."

"You look lovely, my dear. As fine as my own children did when they went on their Spring Riding. And," the King’s sister added. "You’ll be on one of the finest ponies the royal stables have this year. Did you like her when you met her this morning?"

"Oh, yes, Eowyn!" And Wyn went on extolling the virtues of the little brown pony until her cousin Faramir begged her to stop. "Well, you’re not old enough to do this, Fara. Eowyn said that a child, even a hobbit, has to be nine years of age to be a Spring Rider. Maybe your Papa will get you a pony when you’re old enough."

"Wyn," Merry reprimanded her with a twinkle in his eye. "Be nice to your cousin, now. And it’s almost time."

As the combined families made their way to the royal stables, they came to the stall where Wyn had already run ahead to greet her pony. She reached up to pet its velvety brown nose and it whuffed at her wreath.

"Stop that, you’ll blow it off!" She giggled, but didn’t stop petting her.

The little hobbit lass nervously accepted Faramir’s help in mounting her pony, nevertheless sitting in her saddle with the air of one who was quite well practiced. She ran her small fingers over the saddle leather, which was tooled with her father’s crest as well as the double horse motif of Rohan. "Papa?"

Merry smiled up at her. "Yes, love?"

"What if I forget what you’ve taught me, or she gets scared and…"

Eowyn laughed softly. "Wyn, little one, you’ve ridden plenty of times. And your father, I’d imagine, has been a very good teacher."

With a little smile coming through the worry, Wyn looked over at Merry. "Oh yes, he has! And Uncle Pippin, too. And Legolas when he visits…"

"Well, then you’ve had the best teachers I could imagine outside of Rohan or Gondor."

"Eowyn, who taught you?" Wyn asked, curious.

The woman smiled wistfully, and leaned against her husband a bit before replying. "My parents first, and then Theoden King, my uncle. Eomer, of course, although since he is my brother, I would not listen much to him at first."

Chuckling, Faramir handed the reins of the pony to his lady. "I had much the same reaction the first few times Boromir tried to teach me swordplay. I am told, Wyn, that your father did much better in his first few lessons with my brother than did I."

Merry’s eyes met Faramir’s in a gaze that held a connecting set of memories, and then he felt Pippin’s hand reach over and grasp his gently. Comforted by other two in his life who best loved Boromir, the hobbit blew out a slow breath to steady himself. "Ah, you’ll do fine, lass," he finally said to reassure his daughter. "And if my Lady picked out this pony for you, then I know it is the finest and sweetest-tempered steed she could find in any of our realms."

"As Thain of the Shire, I’d take exception to that remark," said Pippin wryly. "But I know our humble ponies could never match those of Rohan, at least not that you’d admit while we’re in this exalted company." With a little squeeze, he let go of his cousin’s hand.

Just then, the rich horn of the king’s herald rang out over the stable roof. "Time to begin, then." Eowyn said, and after Merry pressed a kiss to his daughter’s knee, the woman mounted her own graceful horse and led Wyn’s pony to where the others were gathering.

King Eomer stood at the base of the steps, surveying the ponies lined up before him. The children to be presented stood next to their steeds, with proud parents and families standing to the side. "Each beginning of spring in our land brings new life. And with new life, a new beginning." Eomer’s voice was stern as he continued, though his eyes were kind as they fell on his young subjects. "Our bond with our four-footed brethren is central to our lives, and they are kind enough to allow us to be part of their lives. These young ones before me today are old enough to take that bond into their hearts and lives, and the responsibilities as well. May they prosper and ride like the very wind, safe and swift."

"Safe and swift" The people of Rohan called out in response and blessing, the hobbits’ higher voices mingling with the deeper tones of their friends.

One by one, the herald called out the children’s names, voice ringing out into the air and echoing off of the wooden buildings.

"Eowyn of the Shire, daughter of Meriadoc of the Shire and Holdwine of the Mark!"

Flashing a smile at her parents, Wyn sat straight in her saddle and began the formal ride past the King and Queen.

His heart full and proud, Merry and kicked gently to guide his pony to his daughter’s side, and for the first time in Rohan’s history, two hobbits joined the Spring Riding.