Daughter of Kings
by Evermind
Chapter One: Bealocwealm
Eowyn, daughter of Eomund was seven years old when they brought her
father back dead. She was a slight child, with a solemn face and
penetrating grey eyes. On that day, she had been playing outside
the house with her brother, Eomer.
Eomer was eleven years old at the time, tall for his age, and sturdy, with the golden hair and blue eyes of the royal
house of Eorl.
As their elder cousin Theodred rode up to them, he held something in
his arms, slung across the front of his saddle. It was a man, their
father, and he was dead. Orc arrows stuck from beneath his brazen
surcoat, and his golden hair, stained with blood, clung limply to his
pale, bloodied face. Eomer's face drained of blood, and he swept his
sister into his arms, holding her close, in such a way that she could
not see the burden that Theodred bore. . Eowyn struggled against him,
fighting the truth she did not want to believe.
She heard his voice, start to scream, crying to their father. And,
feeling despair sweep through her, Eowyn too began to cry, fighting her
brother and screaming with him. Eowyn heard the footsteps of her mother
Theodwyn, heard her small cry of surprise and fear. The weeping of
Theodred, the cries of her brother. And then came a sound that Eowyn
ever remembered. A low, keening wail. She could not see, for her
brother's hand was over her eyes, but she heard and understood with her
whole being, as her mother's voice began to lament, crying out the
chant that was kept solely for times of funeral.
"Bealocwealm hafalth freone frecan forth onsended... "
An evil death has set forth the great warrior. And Eowyn realised
then that her father would not return. That was the first song
that Eowyn ever learnt. She sang it herself at Theodwyn's own
funeral, but two months later.
