A/N: Well, here we are at the end. Final chapter. (Sorry!)

Replies to reviewers:

to all: I suspected this idea of Lothiriel not being drop-dead gorgeous would be something a lot of us could relate to, and you've proven me correct. So, for that alone, I'm very glad I pursued it.

lady scribe of avandell - So sorry! At the moment, I have no ideas of continuing this story any further, but who knows - I may change my mind later on. I AM still considering a sequel to No Mistake and have been working on that. But as I've said before, I don't post stories until they are completely written, partly because I know just how possible it is I could fizzle out and not finish it. (I have several incomplete stories sitting around that have never regained my interest.)

MexicanDevil-RoadCrew - couldn't end this story without a big thanks to my personal "clamoring mass"!

Blue Eyes At Night - You're right, Eomer didn't really DO anything, but he didn't do anything to prevent the misunderstanding. Like a lot of guys, he didn't realize til too late that she might misunderstand the situation. He was only focused on what he was feeling.

Julia - No, no! Not Gamling - Gamling is a good guy! Garod is the swine! I usually like Gamling in my stories simply based on the way he was portrayed in the movies, though I understand in the book he was a lot older.

Frigg - and aren't we plain girls fortunate there ARE guys who can see more than just external beauty. Still, there are far too many who can't get past superficial. In the movie, at least, Eomer seemed like a pretty caring guy (he was saddened that the 3 Walkers friends might have been killed even though he didn't know them or their friends), so I choose to believe he could learn to see more than what is on the surface.

Tracey - dry your tears and read on!

Jazzcat – Here you go!

The Eye of the Beholder

Chapter 6

I replayed the events of that night over and over in my head during the following weeks, and became more depressed each time I did. I was tempted to go and discharge Garod and send him from Edoras, but I knew the blame was not his. I was the one who had said nothing at the time. I was the one who hurt Lothiriel by my actions. I did eventually confront him, taking Gamling with me as a deterent to violence, and told him in no uncertain terms never to do such a thing again. I don't think he understood why I was angry, but at least now I wouldn't have to worry about a repeat of this taking place.

I got the impression when the group from Dol Amroth left Edoras that neither Imrahil nor Lothiriel had told Amrothos the reason for their abrupt departure. My suspicions were confirmed when he wrote asking me if I knew what had happened. Since his family had chosen not to inform him, I did not think it my place to do so, and I confess I did not want to know his reaction if he found out. So I told him that something had come up of which I was not at liberty to speak, and that his father had deemed it best that they return to their home at once. I knew he wouldn't be satisfied, but it would have to do.

The days became very long indeed, and I found it difficult to focus on my work with this hanging over my head. I was in contact with Imrahil, but he saw no evidence that Lothiriel had softened her feelings about the matter. I tried writing to her, explaining what had really happened, but if she read the letters, she never responded to them.

When September arrived, the birth of Eowyn's child was near, and I determined to stop in Dol Amroth on my way to Ithilien. Perhaps in person I could persuade Lothiriel to listen to my explanation and, if I was very lucky, believe me. We set out on the 21st of the month and were to Dol Amroth within a week.

As it turned out, however, Lothiriel was not there. She had gone to Ithilien at Faramir's request to be with Eowyn through the birth of the child. Though there would be a midwife to attend her for the birth, apparently Lothiriel's healing skills were considerable and Faramir felt better knowing she was there when he could not be.

I had mixed emotions about it. Imrahil had welcomed me graciously when I turned up unannounced, but I knew he was concerned about Lothiriel's reaction when I arrived at Emyn Arnen. Finally, he told me, "We will just have to trust Lothiriel to conduct herself in her usual manner - calm and collected. I cannot imagine she would be rude to you, and she certainly would not expect you to stay away from your sister at such a time. Were she only visiting there, she might cut her visit short but since she is there on particular business and has agreed to help, she will not shirk her responsibility."

Somehow, his words were not reassuring. The idea of her merely tolerating my presence because she had no other choice was not appealing. But perhaps her being forced to stay might provide a way to convince her of my remorse, and that I truly had not been dishonorable in my intentions.

Amrothos watched me curiously while I remained in Dol Amroth, but apparently realized I would be no more forthcoming with answers in person than I had been in my letter. I could tell he very much wanted to know what had happened, especially since it seemed to concern his sister. Imrahil had told me how disspirited she was for the return trip home and since their arrival there. Gradually, she seemed to hide her feelings better and was more like her usual self, but her family could tell that she was unhappy.

And I was the cause of that unhappiness. The guilt was almost too much to bear. I desperately hoped I could convince her to hear me out when I saw her.

xxxxx

My arrival in Emyn Arnen was subdued, at least in my eyes. Faramir greeted me cordially, and I was fairly certain he did not know of the difficulty between me and his cousin. Faramir immediately took me to see my sister, who was very large and looked very uncomfortable. Knowing Eowyn's impatient nature, I was sure she was anxious for this to be over with soon.

Lothiriel was with Eowyn when I entered, and she greeted me impassively before excusing herself to leave us to talk. She very studiously would not meet my eyes, and I knew it would not be easy to sway her.

Any hopes I had of tackling the issue with Lothiriel immediately were swept away that night when Eowyn went into labor. I had arrived none too soon to welcome my niece or nephew into the world. Faramir spent much time with Eowyn during her travail except for when he got in the way and the midwife chased him off for a while, or when the sight of Eowyn in such pain was too much for him to bear. I was not sure I could ever consider emulating him and stay in the room with a woman giving birth.

It was a long and sleepless night, but at last a servant came just before dawn to tell me I was the uncle of a fine boy. I knew they planned to name him Elboron, after Faramir's brother, Boromir. Once I was assured that mother and child were well and out of danger, I lay down to get at least a little sleep. I knew I would not be a welcome visitor for several hours yet.

Later that morning, Faramir summoned me to see my new nephew and I gladly went to their chambers. It was unnerving to see Eowyn lying so pale and weak against her pillows, but she had never looked more radiant as she cooed to her baby. Proudly, she waved me over for a closer look as Faramir stood beaming nearby.

They say that babies are beautiful, but I confess, I do not see it. They are shrivelled and red for some time, though I was sure my nephew would turn out fine eventually. He had Faramir's dark hair, but I thought he looked a bit like my sister. And I couldn't stop grinning when he seemed to look at me and smile. Eowyn mischievously eyed me and asked, "Would you like to hold him?"

I swallowed hard; he was so tiny and my hands suddenly felt huge. But before I could refuse, she was holding him out to me expectantly and I gently took him. Eowyn began to laugh at the awkward posture I assumed, with the infant balanced on my hands, and told her husband, "Faramir, show him how it is done."

With a chuckle, Faramir took his son and cuddled him close to his chest, gently rocking him. I knew then that he would be an excellent father, and could only hope I would be like him, if I ever had the opportunity. Reflexively, I glanced at Lothiriel who stood nearby, out of the way until needed. She did not meet my gaze and I turned back to my sister.

After a few moments of visiting, I could see Eowyn was close to falling asleep. Lothiriel saw it, too, and bid me, "My lord, allow me to take you to breakfast and we will let this little family get some rest." As I stepped out the door, I saw Faramir hand his son to his wife and then lay down beside them. And I greatly envied him.

Lothiriel said nothing as we made our way to the dining room, and quietly arranged for our meal to be served. She made few comments and they were only the expected polite conversation. As soon as she was done eating, she excused herself, "I hope you will pardon me, my lord, but if you do not mind, I will take my leave of you for I am very weary."

I nodded quickly. "Of course. Get some rest." It wasn't at all what I wanted to say, but how could I deny her request knowing how tired she must be after the long night.

The next few days did not improve the situation much. Lothiriel avoided me when possible, always with the utmost politeness, and was unfailingly courteous when forced to endure conversation with me. But she nimbly eluded any efforts I made to be alone with her and bring up the sore point between us.

And so it was that Faramir found me in his library, gazing out the window at Lothiriel who was reading in the garden. He came and stood beside me a moment, noting what held my interest outdoors. Quietly he turned and took a seat. "So, are you going to tell me what has happened between you and Lothiriel?"

I stiffened and asked, without turning, "What did she tell you?"

"Nothing. And that concerns me because normally she would confide in me. But I also know my cousin well enough to know something is very wrong, and I can tell from her behavior that it concerns you. I can tell from your behavior that you know what it is. I surmise she has not confided in me because she does not wish me to have an ill opinion of my brother-in-law."

The last comment was so unexpected, that I jerked quickly around. "What is it you suspect me of?" I asked with a mixture of anger and guilt.

"Nothing too grievous," he said softly, "which is good, since I would hate to have to challenge you. But she is upset and you act guilty, so I feel safe in assuming that you did something to cause her...unhappiness."

I sat down in the chair across from him and rubbed my face wearily. "You assume correctly," I admitted. "And I would gladly do whatever it took to make it up to her, but she will not allow me to do so. She will not even listen to my explanation. Her father tried to explain for me, but I do not think she believed him."

"Tell me what happened," he suggested evenly, withholding judgement for the time being.

So I told him all that had transpired, from Garod's very first remark about her in Minas Tirith to the night in the stable at Edoras. When he wanted to, Faramir could be quite inscrutable, and I found it hard now to read his thoughts. "I swear to you, Faramir, I did not mean for this to happen. I was not trying to do anything dishonorable that night - I really just wanted to kiss her."

"Why?" he asked abruptly.

I blinked. "Why? Why what?"

"Why did you want to kiss her that night?"

I let out a long sigh. "I did not know my reason at the time, but I have come to realize since what it was. Somehow, someway I have fallen in love with your cousin." I stared mournfully at the floor and added, "And through my own foolishness I have lost any chance I might have had to win her heart."

Faramir was silent for a long time, but I supposed it was a good sign that he had not hit me. Finally, he looked up at me and queried, "And what if she were to forgive you, what then?"

I wasn't sure what he was asking, and he must have been able to tell for he added, "What are your intentions toward her?"

"I would marry her in an instant if she would have me, but even if she forgives me, I do not think she will ever choose that course now."

Faramir leaned forward and rested his elbows on his legs. "Understand this, Eomer. I love Lothiriel as if she were my own sister. I would protect her, and defend her, and take offense if anyone were to misuse her - including my wife's brother."

I didn't know where he was going with this, but told him, "I know you are close. What you say does not surprise me. Why do you tell me this?"

He thought for a moment, then said, "I will speak to Lothiriel and explain what truly happened that night. I do not know if it will have a beneficial effect for you, but hopefully it will at least lessen her pain. And know this, if you have not been honest with me, or ever hurt her again, it will not go well with you - brother-in-law or not, King of Rohan or not."

I gave him a lopsided smile. "I know how I feel about Eowyn. I will assume you feel the same for Lothiriel. I would never dare risk your ire." I thought for a moment and then added, "Thank you. Even if all this does is get her to let me apologize and ease her unhappiness, it will be worth it. I will not hope for any more than that."

xxxxx

I do not know when Faramir spoke to Lothiriel. Her manner never changed appreciably for the next few days, though I did once catch her eyeing me speculatively. I could not tell if that was because of Faramir's appeal or something else. But if she knew my explanation and believed it, she gave no indication of accepting my apology. The longer it went without her acknowledging the matter, the more convinced I became that she had rejected Faramir's attempts in my behalf.

A week after Elboron was born, Faramir asked me to ride out with him to a sparsely populated portion of Ithilien that lay near the border with Harad. The settlers in the area had been having difficulties there and he went to see what could be done to improve the situation.

As it turned out, the visit proved more dangerous than had been expected and we were ambushed by a party of Haradrim. Though we routed them in the skirmish that took place, we were not without injury, not the least of which was the arrow I took in my shoulder. We had not expected to be riding into battle and were not dressed in protective armor as we otherwise might have been. Faramir hastily began the return journey to his home. As we neared Emyn Arnen, one of his Rangers suggested taking me on to Minas Tirith for the healers to care for, but Faramir knew the blood loss was quickly weakening me.

"No, we'll take him to my place. My cousin is skilled in healing. She will have us send for a healer if it becomes necessary, and I do not think Eomer could manage the trip to Minas Tirith in his condition."

And so we arrived late that night, after the household was asleep. While his men helped me inside and into my bed, Faramir sought out Lothiriel and requested she attend me. I do not know if she hesitated, but somehow the thought of dragging her out of her bed at night, to care for me, added to my already considerable guilt.

Whatever her reaction to the request, she put in appearance a moment later, in nightgown and robe, her hair hastily pulled back and tied at the nape of her neck. Servants bustled in and out with hot water and bandages, and anything else she requested of them. Faramir hovered nearby until she dismissed him. "Go to bed, Faramir. There is nothing you can do to help me. I will wake you if you are needed."

He nodded gratefully, and said softly, "Thank you, Thiri." She gave him a warm, reassuring smile and he left us alone.

She worked quickly and efficiently as she set about cleaning the wound, treating and binding it. But she made no attempt at conversation. I tried several times to catch her eye, but she carefully kept her eyes averted from my face while she tended me. Cleaning the wound was painful, and I asked her, "Would you talk to me? It will help distract me from the pain."

For a moment, she said nothing and I thought she was not going to honor my request, but then she said, "Shall I tell you about the first time I was ever kissed?"

My stomach lurched violently. This was not exactly the conversation I had in mind, but she certainly had my undivided attention. I no longer noticed the pain in my shoulder as she cleaned it.

"He and I had only ever been friends prior to the night he kissed me, and I was very fond of him, though I had never truly thought of him romantically. I did not think he had ever thought of me in that light either, until the kiss, and so at first I was too surprised to respond. But gradually, I began to realize that I was enjoying it and I began to participate. Unfortunately, someone came upon us just then, and through his conversation with this person, I became convinced that he had no true feelings for me but was only taking advantage of me."

I closed my eyes and groaned inwardly - it was clear what she was saying. I had been her first kiss and instead of being the sweet experience she hoped for, a friend had betrayed her trust.

Her story had served its purpose; I was distracted during the most painful parts of her treatment of my wound, but nothing could ease the rising pain in my chest of knowing how much I had hurt her. When she started to stand and remove her supplies to a nearby table, I reached out and caught her wrist. "Lothiriel," I whispered. She stiffened, but did not pull away from me. "I am so very sorry. I would not have hurt you for anything in all of Middle-earth. Please believe me when I tell you it was not my intention to do so; it was only my incredible foolishness that led me into such error."

After a few moments she said softly, "I know. I believed Faramir, for he is almost impossible to deceive. But it still hurts."

She pulled her wrist free and moved away from me. Anxiously I asked, "Can we never repair what has been damaged?"

She kept her back to me and answered, "I do not know. I will have to think about it longer, and see what my feelings are in the matter."

I struggled to sit up, though it was painful to do so. She was turning back to finish up and noticed. "What are you doing? Lie still!"

She moved toward me to make me lie down, but I reached out and caught her by the arms when she came near. "Then while you are thinking about it, think about this as well - I love you, Lothiriel. I do not know when or how it happened, but it did happen. That is why I kissed you that night, though I did not realize it at the time. But I have had plenty of time to examine my feelings and I know how very dear you are to me. I want to marry you!"

She looked gently down at me, and pulled away from my grasp. "You do not need to sacrifice yourself in retribution, Eomer. I have already forgiven you. You do not have to marry me to make amends."

Alarmed at her misunderstanding of my words, I tried to rise, but loss of blood made me lightheaded, and I began to go down almost immediately. Lothiriel saw what was happening and darted forward, pushing me hard enough that I fell back onto the bed rather than onto the floor, but as I lost my balance I grabbed for something to hold onto and ended up catching her arm and pulling her down with me.

We both lay there out of breath, and I was waiting for the pain to subside so that I could speak. I think she realized that and she remained unmoving, watching me battle for control. As the pained expression on my face eased, she asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes," I answered, though not at all sure I would ever be alright again.

It was probably foolish of me to do so, but in that moment I thought perhaps if I kissed her I could convince her my feelings for her were genuine. So I rolled toward her and before she could resist, my lips found hers. And gradually her stiffness eased, and her arms slid around me. I wasn't sure if I had convinced her of anything, but right then I was willing to hope it might be so.

When I pulled back to look at her, she had tears streaming down her face. I don't know how I knew, but I did know they were tears of happiness, not sorrow. I pulled her close and simply held her while her emotion played out. I don't know how long we lay there like that, but finally she drew away and wiped at her face.

"You do know what Faramir and my brothers will do to you if you are misleading me, don't you?" Only her smile belied the threat in her words.

I nodded and grinned. "Yes. Faramir made it quite clear to me before he agreed to talk to you."

To my surprise, Lothiriel slipped her arms around my neck and pulled me into another kiss, and this time there was no hesitancy on her part, or mine, for that matter. As we separated again a few moments later, some evil little part of me wondered how Garod was going to react when he found out who his new queen was to be.

THE END

If you are interested, there is a sequel to this story. It is called The Heart of the Beholder. The easiest way to find it is to go to the top of this page, click on my name (Deandra) and that will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will see all the stories I have written. Click on the story title and it will take you to chapter 1. Enjoy!

A/N: Many of you have mentioned wanting to see a sequel to this. The problem is, when I write, I know when I have reached "the end". And I can't write unless I'm feeling inspired to do so. Will there ever be a sequel? Maybe, maybe not. Somewhere down the line I may reread this and suddenly have a whole new story line I want to add with these characters and then I'll sit down and write it. But that may also never happen. But I've never been good at "forcing" myself to write when unmotivated (witness all the unfinished stories I have laying around). The very first LOTR I started was a Legomance because I was wild about him, but then I fell in love with Eomer before I finished the story. I just can't get worked up to finish a Legolas love story when my heart is pining for someone else!

Hope that helps you understand where I'm coming from a little better. It isn't necessarily that I don't want to accommodate you and continue a story further, I just find it almost impossible to do. On the other hand, occasionally it does happen. At the moment, (and this could change at any second) I am working on a sequel to No Mistake. For the moment, I'm liking it and enjoying it and if that continues, I'll post it when I get finished. (I don't always write in a linear fashion, so sometimes I have a beginning, an end but no middle.)

In the meantime, if you like Harry Potter, check out my HP story (the first fanfiction I ever wrote that is "published" and which got me started with LOTR fanfiction). I have one more complete LOTR story, actually the second story I wrote on LOTR (the first being the unfinished Legolas story) and it has Eomer and an Other Character. It wasn't until I began reading "Hold On Love" by jadeddiva that I fell in love with the idea of Eomer/Lothiriel and was inspired to write these two - No Mistake and The Eye of the Beholder. I wanted to get all of the HP story uploaded so I could add chapters periodically and it is 22 chapters. The website only lets you have 15 things "in the wings", so that is why you saw me posting so many new chapters of the HP story - to make room. (Though you benefited because it is also why I posted new chapters of Eye faster!) I have to clear out a couple of HP chapters and then will have room to start uploading the other LOTR story. I think it is about 10 chapters long and is called The Truest Friends. I should get that started sometime next week.

Thanks again to everyone for being such a faithful following and so encouraging and supportive.