Aragorn, high king and lord of Gondor is growing old. A century and twenty years had passed since the destruction of the ring and Sauron. Aragorn awoke one night from a dream, and to Arwen he said," my wife it is time this day, I have had a long and happy life, but today I must die."
With that King Aragorn returned to sleep for the rest of night. He awoke early in the morning, and took his sceptre and crow and went to the throne room. His son followed him there, in the hall he spoke to his son and said,"Eldarion, you must now take my place as king, may you rule for long years to come. Carry on the house of Telcontar until the unmaking of the world." He spoke to his son for a while longer giving him final words of advice before his death. Aragorn walked to his throne where he then sat heavily and slouched, Arwen his wife beside him. No more that an hour later the great King of Gondor and the Kingdoms of men died. When Eldarion's father died he was aroused from his chair which he had sat near the throne to be with his father until the end. He took long, swift strides as his father had in years past, out the doors of the throne room, and into the court yard which sat at the heart of the capital city of Annuminas. He called out, his voice rang throughout the city,"Our great king is dead, may you all mourn him, I now summon the council to the palace."
The council of Gondor rose from the daily tasks and moved swifty to the palace, in the near center of the city. Whispers filled the throne room as the council and their servants pondered the truth of the king's death. "Is it true?", said one servant, another said,"He was murdered!", and yet another called," why would the king leave us!".
"Silence!", yelled Eldarion. His voice held the same power of his father, and the same calm of his grandfather. "Rumors are for the foolish, my father died this morning not an hour past and now you stand here spreading filth and half-truths," Eldarion glared around the room,"if you cannot control your tongs, then keep your mouths shut!" A deafening silence fell over the room.
"Eldarion, you are now king, why would you need us summoned here?" asked Faramorn son of Faramir.
"Be patient my friend, you will know in a while." said the new king. So there the council waited, long hours past and whispers and quiet conversations filled the room. Eldarion noticed a few tears shed when the topic of the king was raised. Finally with not much longer than an hour of daylight left Eldarion rose from the throne, and so the men filling the chamber arose also. The personal guard of the king, adorned with golden armor, wings of eagles sprouting from their helms, followed him closely , along with around fifty others that had filled the chamber. They filed out of the chamber following there new king into the courtyard. The courtyard held a white tree, once only a seed, sprung from the tree of Gondor, around the tree was a bed of flowers, pinks and yellows. A waist high stone fence separated the courtyard from the street, where the hustle and bustle of the city could easily be observed by those in the courtyard.
"My friends, this evening we will be watching the stars, closely," Eldarion looked toward the sky, then turned his head slowly back to all those in the courtyard and spoke again,"I suggest you make yourselves confortable, we will be here for a good portion of the night." Many glances were made around the crowd, most of the council was aged, none below the age of 47, many were in there sixties.
"My king, this is preposterous, we cannot sit in the grass in our fine clothes," he took a breath and looked around, hoping for support in his argument,"we have far more pressing issues than stargazing your majesty." At that time an audible laugh came from Eldarion.
"Delhir, old friend, do you not trust me? I have seen my kingdom's destiny in the stars, you will see it too if you will stay. You may go of course, I do not hold you hear, but remember I gave you those fine linens that you wish not soil." Delhir brought his gaze away from the king, to the ground in shame.
"I am sorry my king, I will do as you wish, I apologize for doubting you." With that Delhir took a seat in the grass, as did the rest of the crowd, except for the king's guards. They stood in quiet vigil by the throne room door and by the entrances of the courtyard.
Two hours past, the light on the horizon slowly faded, as day relinquished in grasp on the sky. Stars became bright jewls in the sky, and the moon stood bright just above the roofs of the stone buildings in the city. Relative silence had taken the crowd for those two hours, except for the occasional cough or one person telling another of the beauty of the night sky in a quiet voice. Finally the king stood, and the crowd brought it's attention to him. He glanced for a long minute into the dark sky, turning his gaze as if to reassure himself that he indeed had seen what he wished the crowd to see. The king broke the silence, his calm voice traveling easily over the crowd,"My people look," the king rose his arms, his sleeves fell back to his elbows revealing his powerfull forearms. His index finger extended the ring of Borahir was on it, the green stone shimmering in the star light,"do you see the belt of seven stars, faint it is now but it will brighten soon. They have aligned three times in my life, once on my birth, then again on my fiftieth birthday, and tonight as I suspected. I see now where my destiny lies... Angmar."