She always hurts, these days; or perhaps she never hurts, the numbness she has built around herself muffling even the worst abuses. Either way, she is certain that she will tell Galinda no such thing, for there is certainly no way that this meekly attentive maid can hurt her worse than she has borne before.
"I will tell you." She has become, to her distaste, a good liar. It has ceased to matter whether what she says is true, as it once did, or even whether it is wholly honourable. Honour is one of many things that she had thought herself incapable of losing, which has been ripped little by little out of her. Honour, and honesty, and courage, and pride.
It strikes her again that she must relearn them all, and quickly. She is safe here, with Galinda's hands warm and surprisingly strong against her back, the bathwater lapping around her, the door locked from the inside for once; but she cannot stay safe, and her people need her. If Rohan is ever to be itself again, then she must be herself again, and the thought of it is painful; it was such a long and brutal way down to where she has found herself, the idea of climbing back to the beginning is an exhausting one.
"Will you stay with me?" she asks, suddenly and without thinking, and clears her throat awkwardly. "That is... how long will you stay? You must have other duties to attend to, and I do not know..." Anything, really. There is still so much she cannot make sense of, starting with exactly who Galinda even is.
Besides, that is, the first person in a long time who has seen Éowyn cry, and has not laughed. The first pair of gentle hands on her skin in months upon months, the first person to feel like she is not a threat. Besides all that.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sforzinda
no subject
Date: 2025-07-02 11:45 pm (UTC)"I will tell you." She has become, to her distaste, a good liar. It has ceased to matter whether what she says is true, as it once did, or even whether it is wholly honourable. Honour is one of many things that she had thought herself incapable of losing, which has been ripped little by little out of her. Honour, and honesty, and courage, and pride.
It strikes her again that she must relearn them all, and quickly. She is safe here, with Galinda's hands warm and surprisingly strong against her back, the bathwater lapping around her, the door locked from the inside for once; but she cannot stay safe, and her people need her. If Rohan is ever to be itself again, then she must be herself again, and the thought of it is painful; it was such a long and brutal way down to where she has found herself, the idea of climbing back to the beginning is an exhausting one.
"Will you stay with me?" she asks, suddenly and without thinking, and clears her throat awkwardly. "That is... how long will you stay? You must have other duties to attend to, and I do not know..." Anything, really. There is still so much she cannot make sense of, starting with exactly who Galinda even is.
Besides, that is, the first person in a long time who has seen Éowyn cry, and has not laughed. The first pair of gentle hands on her skin in months upon months, the first person to feel like she is not a threat. Besides all that.