Book 3: Where It Ends [Legolas]

Chapter 26

"I cannot believe that I have never tasted anything quite like that before!" Éowyn proclaimed.

Linnéa grinned at her reaction. The two walked side-by-side with linked arms through the market rows.

"It is a good thing you pulled us away when you did. I would not be able to control myself from eating more."

"I know, it's hard to put it down," Linnéa said.

"I am forever grateful that she was kind enough to offer a jar of her jam to us. I can assure you it will not last the month." Then a little lower whispered, "Any chance I can hide this from Faramir to keep to myself?"

Linnéa threw back her head with a laugh, "You will have a hard time doing so since he knows it's in your possession."

She sighed in a joking manner, "Wishful thinking, I guess."

"It is a shame Edoras does not have a market quite like this," Éomer commented behind them.

"Now that you are recovering, if this is something you want to introduce to your lands, it will be done," the princess stated. "This didn't just happen overnight. Before Smaug's rule this was the norm. But after my father and his company reclaimed the Mountain it took time to convince traders back. The reconstruction of Dale also needed to be completed before that. It took nearly a decade for this to reform."

Linnéa showed them every booth she used for personal items, even taking them to others when her friends expressed interest in various trinkets. It was when both men were observing armor from one of Erebor's blacksmiths that the queen tugged the princess away from them both. She was a little confused as to what Éowyn was up to, but neither went far down the road before the woman paused at a stand. Though it wasn't so she could examine any of the contents on the table. Even if she convincingly proceeded to.

"There is something on my mind that I have not had the chance to ask you," Éowyn spoke up. "But not that we are running out of time together, I must know before we depart."

Linnéa's brows pinched a bit in curiosity.

"What are your thoughts regarding my brother?"

The princess blinked in surprise at the forward question. "Why the sudden interest to know?" Linnéa asked.

Éowyn gave her a look. "Amuse me, if you would."

Glancing over their shoulders Linnéa observed the man in question at a distance. Obviously, the merchant said something humorous, making the Horse-lord laugh alongside Faramir.

"He is a very noble individual, a skilled warrior that would protect his queen without question, and he has a good heart. All who have met him in Erebor speak highly of him despite the fact that your brother has bested them all in training."

"And?" Éowyn pressed.

Looking away to stare at her friend the princess was confused once more. Was there something she missed?

The woman sighed with a small smile, shaking her head. "That's the answer I needed."

"I am not sure I follow."

The table in front of them was completely forgotten and Éowyn dragged them away to not block anyone passing by. They stopped in a cutout between the stands.

"Éomer is fond of you, Linnéa," Éowyn said.

It was not what she expected to hear, waiting for the joke that followed. But when it didn't come the warrior realized how serious she was.