AN: This story is set almost a decade after the end of Lord of the Rings. I have assumed that King Elessar would try to use diplomatic means to reconcile Gondor and Harrad, and what was better in medieval times than an arranged marriage?
I owe a lot of thanks to nosmaeth, for beta reading this story for me. Go and check out her stories!
Italics are for thoughts.
Leanor sat on one of the battlements. From here she had a nice view of the whole city. Minas Tirith indeed looked like a white queen in the sunshine. It was a breathtaking sight, now, that the filthy gases of Mount Doom were not in the atmosphere anymore. However she was observing neither Minas Tirith, nor Osgiliath; her gaze was set towards the South.
The time time passed by, but Leanor didn't move. Many Gondorians saw her, but none disturbed her. They looked at her with pity in their eyes; none of them would have like to be in her place, she was a Haradrim princes from the South, far away from her country. Even if she wanted to blend in with the crowd, she could not; her appearance gave her away. She was quite short, even though she used to be of the tallest among her own kin. She had copper skin and onyx eyes. Her long, thick chocolate coloured hair reached her waist unbraided, however in this cold country it couldn't be appreciated. They call it brown, brown! As if all brown hair were the same!
She had to admit to herself that it was not entirely their fault; they had neither chocolate nor coffee plants, so they could not fully appreciate the different shades of brown like her kin did. As she was watching the dusk painting the whole sky in the West in different colours.
"Are you all right my lady?" a kind voice asked behind her back. Leanor turned around to face the inquiring man. When she recognized her future father-in-law, Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth she dropped to her knees, into a low bow. Her whole haradrim dress clang loudly due to its ornaments, a feature that was highly celebrated in her country, as it was a sign of wealth and prosperity. Here, however, they stared in shock at her in the best case. In the worst case, they giggled behind their long silly sleeves.
"Lady Leanor, please stand up," continued the Prince while extending his arm to her "there is no need to fall onto your knees every time you meet another lord. A bow of your head is enough." She blinked to his polite tone. After a few seconds she understood that she was supposed to grab his offered hand that was still extended towards her and help herself up. She had already been taught that every proper lady of Gondor should accept a lord's offered hand immediately and flushed red with anger, for she should have remembered it. But her cooper skin hid the sudden rush of blood to her face, and even if it didn't, the polite prince didn't comment on it.
"Shall we make our way back to the Citadel? I suppose you might want to refresh yourself before the dinner tonight." He asked her while still clasping at her hand and leading her forward.
Of course, she thought but managed not to roll her eyes at the thought. She was sure that even in this indulgent society, where a woman was allowed to walk by the side of a man who isn't her husband or kin, that would be considered rude. They walked in silence for a while and she looked at Prince Imrahil under her lashes trying not to be caught in the act. He was a fine man, tall and athletic, which was not a wonder at all, as he had been a soldier for the greater part of his life. Of course he had raven hair and a pail complexion, which seemed sickly to her, even though his eyes were lively and grey. He was more than seventy years old and yet he looked like he was a man in his late forties. That brought her awe, as her grandfather at his late fifties looked like he was twenty years senior to him.
"If I may ask, what is bothering you my lady?"
"I was just wondering, if my future lord husband would look like he is my son when we are sixty years old." she responded a bit more bluntly than she intended to.
"Well, that has always been a problem with our inheritance. I had the same problem with my lady wife" he chuckled when he saw her creased eyebrows. "My ancestry goes back to an elven princess, Lady Nimrondel. Some of her powers still remain in the blood of her descendants. But, don't worry, none of us can do magic" he added quickly when he saw frightened face "I can assure you that Amrothos will not transform you into anything…hideous."
"Even if I misbehave?"
"Not even then" that seemed to make her relax a bit, but the Prince had been ruling men for a long enough time to be able to tell that his son's possible magic abilities were not what made the princess look unhappy. In fact she looked very depressed, ill and without appetite. She didn't even eat the haradrim delicacies that they prepared for her in the Citadel's kitchen, which must have been unusual for her, if he could judge rightly from her overly carved figure. So he decided to give it another try, hoping not to cross any lines that he did not know.
"I am sorry to ask you again, but you seem unhappy and I am worried about your health. I do not want to offend you in any way, but, my lady, what is it that is really bothering you?"
Leanor pondered his question for a while. She looked from the corner of her eyes.
"It is not as easy as you might think, my lord." She responded in a low voice after a while.
"Well, then let's talk about it in comfort" they had reached the Citadel's courtyard, so he led her towards a bench beneath the White Tree that was covered with leaves and white flowers. Once settled, he looked at her gently with his grey eyes, expecting her response stoically. That seemed to anger her. Her onyx eyes spat fire at her hands, and she thought: Who he think he is, to question me like this? However, she grew up in the court of overly aggressive men, where women were not allowed to talk without permission. It was a place where thinking to respond rudely to one of them, like she wanted to do at this very moment, was suicide.
"I hate this place." she said finally, "I hate the white stones, the white marbles, and the tall mountains." Now that she had started she slowly realized that she could not contain the emotions; the words poured out, unstoppably like a river "I hate the pale faces that are all around me, the grey cynical eyes judging me behind their long sleeves they use to cover their ironic smiles. I hate everything, everything!"
"Well if you hate Gondor and her people so much, I should talk to King Elessar and rearrange our terms of alliance. Surely neither he, nor the Queen would like you to be upset and crying."
She hadn't noticed when she'd started to cry. It must have started at some point while she was shouting at him. In her country, crying in front of others was unacceptable. Crying was considered a weakness, her people didn't even cry during funerals.
"No, there is no need. I do not want to be the reason for a broken alliance." And more dead people. She remembered her brothers' smiles and the reassuring words they had given her before their departure for the great War of the Ring, as the singers had started to call the war. We will be back and each one of us will bring you a white stone from the white city, they had said. But none had come back and she had no white stones instead of six.
"I cannot find another way for you to escape from the condition you are in. It's the only way I can think of you to go home." The Prince continued his reasoning.
"No! I do not have a home to return to! Harradwaith isn't any more my home! From the moment my grandfather gave his consent to this marriage, I am not allowed to return home. I haven't a home behind me and I cannot see a home in front of me. Especially not in this cold city that resembles nothing to the warm, green oasis I came from", responded Leanor. She was trying to catch her breath again, but the endless sobbing made it difficult for her. He didn't comment her reaction to his inquires, on the contrary he offered her a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.
By the time her tears begun to subside, the sun had disappeared completely from the sky and the first stars were appearing in the sky above them. It was not until her breath had return to its normal rhythm and no more tears where trickling in her face, when he spoke again.
"Lady Leanor, I am certain that your home town, the green oasis, is a splendid place for someone to live. I would really like you to describe it to me someday, as I would like to tell you all about my home town too. But now is not the proper time. For now I want to talk to you about my home. Dol Amroth my home. There resides my older sister Ivriniel, and my two elder sons, Erchirion and Elphir. With us live also my two daughters in law and my three very beautiful grandchildren. But I cannot return to them, to my home as yet, because business with the king keeps me here. So for now, I'll have to return to the home I have here, where I live with Amrothos in Minas Tirith. And if I travel to Rohan, I will find a home awaiting for me there as well. As you might already know, my daughter, Lothiriel is Queen to Eomer King, and I am always welcome at their household. So, you see, I have three homes that I can return to. I all my family members decide to move permanently to Minas Tirith, I will be without a home at Dol Amroth, even though I was born and raised there." he paused at this and gave her a moment for his word to sink in. "You see, your home is not always the city where you were raised or where you live. Home is wherever there are people that love you and care for you. Whether those are friends or family."
Leanor's eyes become wider, a small smile crept up in her face as the meaning of his words became clear to her.
"I think I understand what you mean, now, my prince. Thank you." She said slowly.
"You are welcome. And if you still..."
"No there is no need for that. I can go home now, at this instant. I have a home here, too; my cousin and younger sister wait for me in the Citadel." She smiled to him and the prince saw that, for the first time since her arrival in Minas Tirith, she was not sad. He could see that there was some light in her eyes, hope. He smiled back.
"Indeed...so shall we go inside. Its not too appropriate for a man and an unmarried woman to wander alone in the gardens by themselves at this late hour, not even in Gondor" noted the prince as he stood. He offered her once more his hand and Leanor was faster this time to accept his help.
"As you wish, my prince." Slowly they made their way indoors. Leanor felt relieved since she understood what her future husband's father meant. And soon my father too, she thought. She would be part of his household in a few days after her marriage to Prince Amrothos. She wondered if the older man would consider her a part of his home as well. An inner feeling told her that the kind prince would consider her as a daughter. It was even possible, if she ever got used to freely communicate with men like Gondorian women did, that he would not object in conversing with her. She suspected that Prince Imrahil might be a better father than the one she had...The Haradrim Princess decided to check her theory by asking him something that it had not occurred to her before this moment.
"Can I ask you something, my lord? I hope I am not being… too bold." She asked shyly.
"Of course, I am at your service."
"Do you... think...I mean… Do you think that Prince Amrothos could become my home?" she said with a sudden flush at her face.
Prince Imrahil looked at Leanor with a smirk on his face. He had noticed her blush; her cooper skin could not completely hide it. Most people would not notice it but he was leading men and women for the greatest part of his long life. But he did not comment on that. He turned to face her in front of the Citadel's entrance.
"I think that if you, my lady, would like us, the Gondorians, a little more than now, you will find that Amrothos is quite smitten by you."
With that said he lightly kissed her hand and left her. Princess Leanor of Haradwaith entered the Citabel for the first since her arrival with a light heart. Maybe it's not that cold a country after all...she thought and even the white stones all around her looked warmer to her.
Thank you for reading! A review is always welcome :)