Not too long after the Queen had retired to her room after the initial meeting between the two nations, one of the innumerable servants curtseyed and announced the arrival of the Lady Éowyn.

“Thank you,” said Arwen with a bow of her head.  “You may show her in.”

The moment she opened the door, though, Éowyn herself strode in, looking rather flushed and very ill-at-ease.  Arwen dismissed the servant.

“My lady,” said Éowyn, with a rather impressive curtsey.

“Oh, I’m certain we’re on good enough terms to dispense with those formalities.”  Arwen patted the place beside her on the loveseat.  “What ails you?”

Éowyn pressed her lips together in an obvious effort to contain herself.  “I will never, ever, ever fight with agentleman again!”

Arwen raised an eyebrow.

“Faramir, specifically.”

“What happened?”

“I challenged him to spar in the practice yard.”

“And?”

“He wouldn’t fight!  He was civil enough to accept the challenge, but he wouldn’t do anything!  He ‘couldn’t bear to hurt a lady!’”

“So what happened?”

“I defeated him soundly.  Thrice.  It took every fiber of willpower and love within me not to do any lastingdamage to him, such a fool he was being.”

            The Queen smiled in spite of herself.

            “He does have a nasty bruise along his arm, though.”

            “Somehow I suspect that this is not what the Lord Steward had in mind when he courted you.”

            Éowyn laughed.  “If he did not, then he should have.  I simply do not see why he would not defend himself when he knew I was going to give him very little shrift myself.”

            “You must recall that the honor of a Gondorian differs from that among your people.  It is a testament to Faramir that he even courted you, knowing full well you were unlike the women he knows.  Why did you challenge him?”

            “Several reasons.  I wanted to know if my initial assessment of his prowess was true, and I have not had very much practice at the sword, since the War ended.”

            “I thought you had said you were to become a healer.”

            “I am.  Only—the sword is still beautiful, and I see now that my love of it was not always tainted with death.  If I should want to keep life, rather than lose it, why should I give up something I love?  Have you ever fought, Arwen?”

            Arwen shook her head.  “I have never needed to, though my people train both men and women in that art.  I was never as good as my brothers at the sword, but I still keep a pair of throwing knives with me and my aim is good.  I daresay that if anyone were to make an attempt on my life he would find it more difficult than he expected.”

            “That is well.  It is only—”  She sighed.  “I did not thinkI should find love in a barren White City, least of all with him, and while it is freeing, still there are so many other burdenswith that.  I fear—I fear, in my long solitude, I forgot how to be a woman, and now that I am trying to remember, I do not know how much of what I see is true and how much is false.”

“Faramir had little trouble loving you before,” said Arwen, “for you are not just a woman.  Nor am I.  Nor are men just men, for if they were, how could we choose a husband among them?”

“If you are trying to counsel me,” said Éowyn, “I do not see from your words what I should do.”

“I do not know if you should do anything, other than what you are doing already.  Our lives are changing, and even the best changes come with burdens.  Fortunately, you do not have to face them alone.  And do remember that the only one who should care what kind of woman you are already finds you womanly enough.”

“Womanly enough not to injure me, at least.”

“And yet you gave him little more than a bruise.”

“Because he is Faramir, not because he is a man!”

“Would he have consented to a match with any other woman?”

Éowyn sighed.  “I suppose he is trying.  There were some stakes in the matter as well, and I admit I do not know what to do with them.”

            “What were they?”

            “I fear we were jesting a little, ere we stepped on the grounds.  He said that he was tired of seeing me in white, and decided that the victor would decide what the defeated would wear for one day.  I don’t yet know how I could turn that to my advantage, though.”

            Arwen smiled.  “We could probably think of something, with a little time.”

            “I hope so—he shall have to learn that I am well capable of a jest in return!  Thank you for your help—I must admit I am surprised that you are here and not at the delegations.”

            “There was a—minor—problem, and one which I admit I was happy to leave in others’ hands.  As it turns out, the guests we have received this day were not the actual delegation, but only one ambassador.  His first order of business was to inform us that the Khandis would be arriving in two days, and that no negotiations were to take place until then.”

            “What is the ambassador doing here, then?”

“Apparently, assessing us to see if we are worthy of the great Khandis’ alliance.”

“So, the court is supposed to entertain him for two days and see what happens?”

“Aragorn has decided that he should be treated like any other ambassador, if negotiations have not formally begun, but that is much easier said than done, since there are no records of Khand having ever entered Minas Tirith.  We are all, I must admit, anxious to begin negotiating.”

            “And what of Aragorn?”

            “He is holding a meeting with the ambassador—a quiet one, he had hoped, for himself and all interested parties.  Unfortunately much of the court has construed curiosity for interest, and my absence has caused few to follow my example and give them privacy.”

            “You left the court only to provide an example, then.  Is your husband not using you, then?”

“Not perfectly in this instance, I grant you.  But surely you must understand the ways of the court better than that.  When our every move is to be scrutinized, we must often use one another so that we can accomplish our shared goals.”

            “Were I you, I should not be happy with that arrangement.  In the Riddermark, people are expected to be more honest.” said Éowyn.

            “I am aiding the situation in Khand as best as I can,” said Arwen.  “Eventually, I shall be more direct—necessarily so.  I do not know why, but I fear things will go ill if I am not involved.”

            “It sounds as if you have little time for one another, especially for two so newly wed.  Did you not say that Aragorn worked to get where he is now, just so he could marry you?”

            Arwen smiled.  “‘For little price do Elven-kings sell their daughters.’  Not that my father is a king, mind you; but Aragorn considered the price unworthy of the reward.  I am sure that he will be able to spend more time with me as things settle.  Lord Denethor ruled the city well, but there is so much difficulty in the transition of power, even for a King welcomed by the whole City.”

            “Yet, even then, he will still be King, and will have his duties to conduct.”

            “And I will still be Queen, and I shall have mine.  I know how to spend time wisely.  You need not be concerned for us.”

            “So few people know what worth he holds for you, though.  I wish there were a way, in spite of his duties, for him to show it.”

            Arwen nodded, musing on this for a few moments.  Suddenly, several fragmented ideas that had been dancing through her head all day came together for a quadrille.  She cast her eye at the wardrobe, whose doors had been shut in vain long ago to prevent further contemplation of the gold dress.  “Actually, I think there might be a way…”