-The events in this story take place a month before the birth of Léofara, and the death of Léofwine-
The 'magical' light of a gold sunset flooded the vast plains of the Mark. As far as the eye could see, the tall grass turned into golden waves, dancing with the wind. Late afternoon in the hills of the Eastfold. Her delicate shape wrapped in a soft cloak, she was sitting on an ornate wooden bench on the balcony, staring at the landscape before her eyes. Mearhe pulled down her hood to feel the last rays of the sun against her skin.
Memories of a very different sunset came to her. She remembered Léofwine holding her in his arms in southern Gondor in front of a deep blue sea, and the sound of the ocean waves. Mearhe could still feel his presence, his loving embrace and his whispered words.
There was no ocean in Rohan, only towering mountains and the constant whistling of the winds blowing down the valley where Aldburg stood. It was only a few months since she and Léofwine had traveled back home, and discovered that she was with child. Lost as she was in her own thoughts, she was somehow startled by a warm embrace coming from behind.
Towering above her, Léofwine wrapped his arms around Mearhe's body, gently caressing her belly. His wife smiled and turned to look at him, her heart racing, as it was always when he was closet to her. Léofwine smiled softly at his wife.
"You came back early, I thought you would return tomorrow night," she said,
"The Marshal granted me an early leave...to be with you." Léofwine answered.
Léofwine had left the Eastfold a week earlier to report to the Marshal in Edoras. Leaving his pregnant wife alone was not something he wanted to do, but his duty to the King and to Rohan always came first. Now finally back home, he was just happy to hold her close in the golden light of a glorious winter sunset.
He remembered the first time he met her, at the wedding of one of her cousins in Aldburg. It was so crowded, and noisy, and he felt completely out of place, and decided to get out of the great halls and onto a balcony, only to find out he was not alone there. A woman with her long hair lose down her back was looking up at the clouds in the sky. She was wearing a simple blue dress, and seemed lost in a world of her own, and he felt intrigued by her.
" I can see the shape of a white horse in the clouds," he said by coming close and standing next to her. A delicate fragrance of bergamot and orange blossom surrounded him. She was startled. "My apologies. I didn't mean to interrupt your thoughts," he declared feeling embarrassed and ready to leave when she spoke.
"Please, my lord, don't worry about it. I was just looking for the evening star, it is almost time for it to become visible," the blue eyed young woman replied, bowing her head to him. Léofwine noticed she was blushing.
And from that very moment his life and her life changed forever. Asking her father for her hand in marriage was, by far, the most impulsive action he had ever made in all his life. Now here she was on a balcony again, watching a sunset with him. His unborn child gave a small kick inside her, just where Léofwine's hand was, and he felt happy and blessed, and he laughed.
" Your son Léofara knows you are here," Mearhe said.
" Léofara....'beloved'," her husband replied with a smile, and then he kissed her. And the taste of her lips and the fragrance of her skin made his head spin for a moment, and he felt blessed again.
Image originally posted here
Artscreen of Léofara created in Artbreder and painted in Photoshop by me
