As Far As The Heart Can See

Chapter 12
“Bathroom Incident”

Ósle lay back in the bath tub and with a sigh closed her eyes. A real bath. She hadn’t known how much she had wanted one until she had sunk into the steaming water. And this was her second one in only a few days.
Some minutes ago, a maid had left. She had washed her hair with a nice smelling essence and had selected a dress for her to wear to dinner later that night.
For the first time in several days Ósle felt at ease with herself and the world, although there was still much for her to learn and get used to.
A door opening brought her out of her thoughts. Expecting the maid, she sat up. But it wasn’t. Her eyes widened and so did his. It was the King.
“What are you doing here?” she screeched, trying to cover her nakedness as best as she could. “I thought this a private bathing chamber.”
“It is,” he replied, colouring slightly. “It’s the King and Queen’s. And since you are using the Queen’s chambers and I am using mine…”
He trailed off but was unable to take his gaze off of the Princess. Ósle blushed. Only then did she become aware of his state of clothing or rather lack thereof. He only wore a pair of breeches, nothing more.
‘Bema – he is handsome,’ she thought and her blush deepened even more.
“I…could…could you hand me a drying cloth so that I can leave you alone?” Ósle asked after finally finding her voice again. Éomer nodded, took a large towel from a stack and handed it to her.
“Thank you, my lord,” she gave back and looked at him expectantly. His cheeks reddened a bit more, he cleared his throat and eventually turned away from her. Ósle breathed deeply several times to ease her rapidly beating heart. Then she got up, took the two stone steps out of the in laid tub and wrapped the cloth around her body.
Not considering her still wet feet because she wanted to leave his presence as quickly as possible, she slipped and landed on the stone floor, swearing loudly in rohirric.

At once the King was by her side.
“Are you hurt? What happened?” he asked, offering her a hand which she took.
“I slipped,” Ósle replied embarrassed while he helped her up. Éomer smirked and she blushed once again, rubbing a spot on her behind.
“’Tis not amusing, my lord,” she protested wanting to pull away from him. This would have resulted in her slipping for a second time if he hadn’t caught her in his arms, steadying her.
“Are you alright?” he asked again. His laughter was gone. Ósle could only nod and met his gaze.
“I…my Lord, I wanted to thank you for…for bringing me here from the stables the other night.”
“You are welcome,” Éomer replied and brought a hand up to her cheek.
They stood so close she could smell his scent, this unique scent she had noticed before. She felt his hand at the small of her back and the warmth radiating from his body.
On their own her eyes wandered down, over his nose to his full, red lips.
Too late she heard the small, wistful sigh escape her lips. His hand ran along her cheek into her hair, pulling her to him. Briefly their eyes locked before she was literally swept off her feet when his mouth descended onto hers.
Her hands wrapped around his neck and he pulled her even closer.
Ósle let him take the lead, responding on instinct and was utterly lost.
Gently and slowly he caressed her lips, eventually coaxing them to part. As if asking permission his tongue ran over her bottom lip before meeting hers, touching, caressing.
Everything just fell away from her. All that was important was this moment – the two of them. Nothing else. She was just a woman and he was just a man acting upon their feelings.
Ósle did not know what happened to her. No one had ever kissed her like this. She felt a tingle in her stomach which quickly spread to various parts of her body.
Only lack of air made her pull away sooner than she would have liked.

Her breath came in short, hard gasps and as if through a haze she found his eyes. The look on her face seemed to amuse him because he smiled.
“You have never been kissed before, have you?”
Ósle shook her head then nodded, confused.
“I…I have…but not like this,” she said sheepishly, feeling the by now all too familiar heat in her cheeks. His smiled widened and he leaned in once more. She closed her eyes, anticipating the kiss. As she finally felt his lips, something snapped inside her mind. What by Béma was she doing?
Abruptly she pulled away, freeing herself from his hold on her and took several paces away from him.
“I…I…,” she stammered without turning to face him.
“I am sorry,” he said quietly. “Did I do something wrong?”
At once she shook her head.
“No, my lord. I did and I am sorry.”
She felt him approach, felt the warmth from his body behind her and felt how his hands settled on her shoulders.
A shiver ran down her spine when he asked: “What did you do?”
“I…I let you kiss me, my lord. And it was foolish.” Her voice quivered, nearly breaking. He turned her around, taking her face between his hands.
“Why do you think that?” Gently he made her look at him. When their eyes locked, she saw his widen. He released her at once.
“Of course, I know. I am sorry, Ósle. I did not realize…you must still be grieved.”
Ósle’s brow furrowed, confused. What was he talking about?
“My lord?” she inquired. Éomer sighed deeply, found her eyes again.
“I…I saw how he fell. I…it was unwise to…advance when it is still so near. Again I am sorry.”
His voice was low, almost a whisper sending shivers down her spine. Yet, his words did nothing to lift her confusion.
“I…my Lord…I do not….who did you see….” But suddenly she knew what he was talking about. Her eyes widened and she almost screeched: “Alden? – You saw how Alden fell?”

His nod was barely visible.
“He died bravely alongside his King. Although I know this brings you no comfort.”
A sad smile graced her lips but she shook her head. It brought no comfort but verified what she already knew. She wiped a stray tear from her cheek.
“I thank you, Sire for telling me this but I never doubted Alden’s bravery. – But why are you telling me this now? I do not understand…,”
His face clearly showed confusion when he looked up at her again.
“Wasn’t….were you not to be married to him?”
Ósle stared at him, for a moment at a loss for words. How could he possibly know that? How could he even know they had been close?
“I…yes, I was. He asked me to become his wife shortly before you left for Gondor. But…I,” she hesitated as she took in his expression. Why did he suddenly seem so…defeated?
“I…I loved Alden as a brother…I still do, just as his brother Ceredig. He was my best friend.” Listening to what Ósle said, Éomer did not know what to think. Once she finished he took a deep breath. A question burned inside him and he needed to know the answer.
“Why…why then did you agree to marry him if you did not love him…that way?”
Òsle swallowed. She had known this question would come.
“When he asked me, I saw his love for me shining in his eyes. And I knew if I told him the truth he would have been broken even before he rode to war. I couldn’t do that. It felt wrong. To believe that I really loved him was his anchor…his one hope. And I did not have the heart to tear that from him.”

Not knowing why and more than a bit surprised, Éomer heard himself exhale heavily. So she had not broken their kiss because she was still in love with Alden. But this left another question. And before he could think twice he asked: “Why then did you pull away from me?”
Ósle blushed deeply and tucked at the thin drying cloth, once more becoming aware of their state of undress. Oh, how embarrassing.
“I…because I…,” she stammered and looked at him from under lowered lashes. “I…I felt…still feel unsure. I asked myself just what I was doing…kissing you like that.”
Her blush deepened even more as his rumbling laughter filled the room.
“’Tis no laughing matter, my lord. I mean…if someone found out…wouldn’t there be consequences?”
At once his amusement died and Éomer became serious. Indeed, why hadn’t he thought of this before? With a heavy sigh he nodded.
“You are right, Princess. I apologize.”
“No, you don’t need to…I…I liked it. But…I…I do not wish to be forced into marriage. Neither do I wish to force you to marry me against your will.”
Some of his amusement seemed to return because he smiled at her.
“You seem to know a lot about proper behaviour in Gondor,” he noted.
“I…I spent some time with Queen Arwen and your sister, my lord and the subject…came up.”
His eyebrows rose and Ósle blushed again, furiously.
“How so?”

Ósle bit her lower lip. By Béma, could this get anymore embarrassing? Avoiding eye contact, she mumbled something. Éomer couldn’t be sure but he thought to hear something along the lines of ‘because of you’. Slowly he approached her.
“I am sorry, would you kindly repeat that?” he asked amusement audible in his voice. Ósle’s eyes flew up to meet his, clearly surprised he stood so near.
“I…nothing,” she stuttered. Éomer smiled and decided to let it rest for now.
“Indeed,” he replied. With on step he stood directly in front of her. His arms drew her to him and before she had the chance to protest, he claimed her lips.
Ósle knew she should have pushed him away, even slapped him. But she couldn’t. Instantly she gave in to him, returning his kiss. It just felt so good…and right.
Yet, their kiss was cut short by a voice calling for her. It was Éowyn. Éomer and Ósle parted at once.
“I will see you at dinner,” he said and quickly made his way back into his chambers. And not a second too soon. Just then, Éowyn entered the bathing chamber.
“Here you are. Come on, you need to get ready for dinner.”
Unable to say anything, Ósle simply nodded and let herself be pulled back into her room.

TBC