Fic: The Trial (Eomer/Theodred) PG-13 for Uisgich. Season's Greetings!

[alex_quine]

Title: The Trial
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Eomer/Theodred
Summary: Eomer faces an unexpected trial and Theodred has a choice to make.
Warnings: Canon age ranges
Disclaimer:  The originals of these characters belong to their copyright holders.  I borrow them for fun.
Prompt: This is written for uisgich, who asked for something Rohirric, set during the Mid-

Comments

[lordhellebore]

What an adventure for young Éomer - if there is any kind of maturity ritual with the ohirrim, it definitely should be horse-related. I really like Éomers musings about the lack of a family to see him through this, then Éowyn turning up and helping him out, and his realisation that she is old enough to hold her own. And of course his relationship with Théodred; it's barely hinted at that something more could happen between them, but the way you suggested it made me want to read what might happen there.

[alex_quine]

Thankyou for reading it and for your kind comments. Uisgich gave me a fine set of prompts - I've written horse-based ritual for Rohirric characters before, but not for a long time and this was a very welcome opportunity to explore another aspect of it. The most challenging thing was probably going back to the canon age spread, but it gave me a chance to work more with the young Eomer as more isolated within a martial society than it he had a father or brothers to guide him.

[uisgich]

Thank you so much for such a wonderful gift!

There was a real sense of a rich history behind the task the boys had to perform, and I was anticipating reading about Eomer's trial, but there was more to come in the unexpected encounter with the orcs. The detail was amazing, and I was drawn right into the story.

There were so many things I loved about it. The scene at the beginning with Eomund first telling Eomer about the trials and how Eomer missed his father when his own trial came around. That Eowyn knows her brother well enough to make sure he had his comfortable boots before he set off. Theodred telling Eomer that he sees how skilled he is with the horses, and doesn't miss how he avoids his other tutors. The attraction between them, and that Theodred is the cautious one, being given hope that he might be able to trust Eomer with his heart.

And it ended with such a hopeful line:

And Theodred found himself gazing at those strong hands, playing with the rope end and wondering what it might be like, for once, to trust to

[alex_quine]

It's a great pleasure and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And thankyou for the intriguing prompt. I'd not thought
about these characters as a pairing before, but once I did somehow it became interesting to work from the
canon ages, if only because it allowed me to explore Eomer as a more solitary figure. I was interested in
the idea that in this society Eomer and Eowyn had to earn the valued places that we see them in throughout
the later books, that at this point in their lives they still depend largely on one another but they are at the point of
emerging from their childhood status. Anyway, thankyou again for your kind comments and a Happy New Year
to you and yours!

[keiliss]

I wasn't sure what this would be about, but I am so glad I stopped to read. Coming of age rituals always interest me, and this felt really authentic. Beyond that, I loved Eowyn, that's exactly as I imagine her at that age, and Eomer went straight to my heart. The encounter with the orcs was very tense and the idea of using the herd to attack them was really clever. Oh, and I loved the old matriarch's name - Fire-leaper. The relationship between Eomer and Theodred - and the hints towards something closer - was warm and realistic and made me want to read more. I really enjoyed it and was sorry when it ended.

~Kei

[alex_quine]

Thankyou very much for reading it and for your kind comments. I'm glad that it worked for you. I was given an intriguing
set of prompts and couldn't resist taking the chance to work with Eowyn and Eomer at a younger age.

[ysilme]

This was a very enjoyable, well-rounded story about a bit of back-story that would sit so well with the books and fits perfectly into the Rohirric culture. I haven't read much about the people yet, though they are my favourite among the men, and I have a particularly soft spot for Éomer. His relative isolation due to the lack of family, despite being the King's nephew, came through so well in your tale, and his eagerness and intention to do well. supported and aided by his sister who is showing her grit and strength also very beautifully. My knowledge about horses is limited to about a year of riding lessons as young adult and the fleeting acquaintance to my sister's horse, but I felt right in the middle of the action as well of the herd when Éomer was, smelling the scents and hearing the sounds, and feeling very comfortable there. The story line with the maturity ritual and the twist with the Orc problem, and Éomer and Théodred's subsequent closeness, was a delight to read.

[alex_quine]

I'm really glad that you enjoyed it, thankyou for your kind feedback. It was a particularly intriguing set of
prompts and although I've written a bit about Rohan before, this was a fun one to tackle, setting up Eomer's
and our expectations of one kind of trial and then dropping in two others, one direct in relation with the orc
and the other sneaking up on him, and on Theodred. Great fun and I'm really pleased it spoke to you.

[ysilme]

Where can I find your fic? I would like to read more from you about Rohan.

[alex_quine]

If you go to my Fic Index page: http://alex-quine.livejournal.com/11242.html#cutid1
which is linked from my profile, you'll find down at the bottom of the page links to a
group of fic that are outside my main AU.
'Home' could be a prequel to this fic.
'Invisible Ink' is Eomer/Faramir and was the first challenge fic that took me to Rohan.
'The Roan' is another challenge fic that is a bit of a unique piece, not to everyone's taste.

I'm really touched that you should think of reading more. I hope you enjoy them.