despite any lingering concern, a smile breaks across lothΓriel's face at the utter relief in Γ©owyn's sigh. any other day, she would have laughed. as it is, whatever thread of nerves and anticipation this conversation has created twists too tight to permit it. "it is probably like another language, for those used to speaking plainly," she says. "you will master it in time if you choose, though i rather hope that you will not." the thought of Γ©owyn speaking like the most ambitious courtier feels as unnatural as seeing the sea go still in a windstorm.
whatever it is that Γ©owyn wishes to tell her, it is clear that doing so even in plain honest terms is somehow complicated. she pauses long enough to feel that thread tighten further. it only grows worse as Γ©owyn reaches over to take her hand, though - - somehow - - the direct way she looks at her, eye to eye, is steadying.
the words rush over and around her, tugging at her like an undertow, threatening to pull her out to sea. (you are the one i believe my brother will miss...the way he looks at you...never seen him look at another that way...) she cannot be sure she isn't dreaming it, that she isn't - - at this moment - - dozing in a window with a book fallen open on her lap. it is only the squeeze of Γ©owyn's fingers that convinces her otherwise. "i..." she blinks several times in quick succession, helplessly feeling the warmth rising in her cheeks, unable to stop it. a thousand feelings and a hundred thousand thoughts, and she cannot find a way to voice any of them. now she does laugh, so briefly she wonders if she made the noise at all.
it would be a cruelty, to say such a thing without truth, and she does not think Γ©owyn cruel. more, it would be against so much lothΓriel has learned of the people of rohan - - the value they place on speaking the truth. and so she does not, even for a moment, believe this is scheme or lie. instead, she all but whispers only two words, spoken shyly and yet with a hope she cannot hide: "are you certain?"