A winter ride

[shieldmaiden_rohan]

 The weather was cold and snowy, which suited Eowyn well.   She had warm garments and a warm place to sleep, as did Bleod.  The heat of the summer here was one that did not suit her nearly as much, and certainly did not suit Bleod.  A winter coat could be grown, but in the summer Eowyn had to be sure not to allow Bleod to overheat.  

Such it was that she was able to take long, leisurely rides in the countryside, stepping with Bleod through new-fallen snow and untrod paths while the horse's breath steamed gently in the air.  They rode only as long as Bleod wished to, of course, for the mare's Mearas blood meant that even one of the line of Eorl could not and would not force her to do what she did not wish to do unless the circumstances be grave indeed.

Fortunately for both of them, the circumstances were not grave, and so Eowyn paused when Bleod indicated that she wished them to.  The stream they were near flowed freely even in the winter and Eowyn thought it must be fed by some underground spring.  The water was thus not too cold to drink and Bleod took her time in doing it.

Yes, this weather suited Eowyn well, though she turned in sudden attention to a noise behind her.  

Comments

[somethingwild]

"Oh, how marvelous," Newt proclaims, listening to Eowyn explain the culture of her home. It seems so right, that the horses themselves should get to choose their own companions; they deserve as much agency as any other living creature, or so Newt has always believed. "That is incredible and wonderful, that the horses get a say in the matter, if you don't mind me saying so."

"And what a fitting name," he says, observing the white on Bleod's forehead.

He glances back down at his Niffler, smiling at how content he seems, for once. "No, I've never been able to find one fitting enough, really," he explains, glancing up at Eowyn again. "I'm usually too busy chasing him about to try and come up with one."

[shieldmaiden_rohan]

"We have found it to be the best way for our people, though we know that not all people have similar opinions," she replied warmly but perhaps more diplomatically than she had ever thought she could be. Some lessons of the House of Eorl she had remembered.

She paused and looked at the Niffler, considering names.

"That is difficult indeed. It must be something short, so that you may say it while chasing him. A long name would be most cumbersome to shout several times."

[somethingwild]

"No," Newt says with a wry, knowing smile, a little sad at its edges. "People harbor all sorts of opinions about animals, not all of them good. But this ceremony of your people, of the horses choosing their humans, I like that quite a lot." He manages to offer her another smile.

"Yes, indeed," he says with a chuckle. "I've often considered Gold, for such a purpose, but then, I think of how I would look, shouting 'Gold' constantly in public."

"I'm rather at a loss, it would seem," he says.

[shieldmaiden_rohan]

"Perhaps another language's word for gold, then?" she suggested after a moment of thought. "In my own tongue, gold is gold, so that does not assist. In the tongue of another of the people of my world, golden is mallen. In a tongue of one of my dearest friends here, I believe it is aurum."

There were many languages, and not all names need be in Westron, though Newt spoke Westron.