Minas Tirith - 3040 TA
Sixteen years after events in By Wimple Saved
Gondor again had a King and its populace rejoiced. The old Steward Denethor son of Ecthelion had died and his son took up the staff which was the symbol of their office. Yet even with the new Steward's backing the Council and the Great Lords were mostly against accepting the King of Arnor as their monarch.
The scales were finally tipped by the King of Rohan voicing his unconditional support for the northerner's candidacy, accompanied by hints of his serious displeasure should his shield brother not occupy the throne in Minas Tirith. And Eomer King's support – although not a lord of the Realm – brought the Prince of Dol Amroth on the side of the Restoration. The marriage contract which had given Rohan its Queen Lothiriel had a clause calling for Prince Imrahil's – or his heir's - backing of Aragorn's claim. The threat of Eomer invoking another clause – of sending Lothiriel – known in Rohan as the Queen She-Moose - back to her father made Dol Amroth clarify its stance immediately.
Aredhel and her family had been personally invited by both Kings to the Coronation. A few days before the event she was examining her brood - fully assembled for the first time in years - with a fulfilled mother's pride.
Agarwen or Aethelfed was happily wed to Wulfstan, with two sons and a daughter to her name. Aredhel had helped them run the war ravaged estate as her knowledge of Gondor and Gondorian practices greatly helped in having high quality products to sell in the south. Wulfstan was slowly rebuilding his family's fortune, with Aethelfeld's good standing at both Aldburg and Edoras being of nothing but help in this regard. Having an exotic and lettered wife did not harm either.
Fenior or Forlan. She gave of a small inward sigh. Forlan was doing well, a well respected Captain leading his own eored for King Elessar. But that wife of his ... had things been different and had he impregnated the like of her in Gondor, she would have given the girl a few coins and a sharp slap across the backside to speed her exit through the backdoor. And Aredhel would have made sure that her husband had forced the boy to live with it. But being an exile in Rohan changed one's perspective. Once her eldest had come from Arnor after ten years of campaigning with a short rotund wife going by the name of Deleira she found it difficult not to accept her. Not only did they evidently love one another but their son Bregol had such sweet dimples ...
Her middle son – she smiled at the powerfully built roundfaced warrior. Bergil son of Beregon had latched himself to her and no wonder – Aredhel and her family were the only Gondorians he had contact with amidst a sea of Rohirrim. As the Eorlings seemed to be incapable of pronouncing "ber" before "gil" and kept on calling him Gerbil they compromised on Gerbilaf. His presence around Aredhel made the Rohirrim assume that he was kin, if not her son. Once Forlan had left for the north and Gerbilaf began to function as the token "Man of the House" she formally adopted the orphaned Gondorian.
Gerbilaf's marriage would have made any – well, almost any - Rohirric mother proud as Getfleda was Eomer's bastard daughter. It had been a smile of fortune that her exotic looking middle son had caught the King's natural daughter's eye. But Aredhel was proud that his post as Captain's second was won fully on his own merit and not through kinship by marriage. This union had made her even more disliked by Queen Lothiriel. But that did not bother Aredhel at all – she was in Eomer King's good graces from her time as chatelaine at Edoras and that was what mattered. Now, if only would they give her a grandchild ...
Her youngest son Fognir was her worrychild, the one she would have to look out for. Barely sixteen years of age, about to become a Rider and guileless. Brought up since birth in Rohan his Westron was heavily accented and his Sindarin close to nonexistent although he understood it quite well. It was her fault, it had been so much easier to speak Rohirric with him then struggle with the Auld Tongue.
What worried her were the Gondorian high born harpies out to ensnare her son with one of their worthless daughters. With his purely Rohirric upbringing Aredhel was sure that Fognir would quickly be trapped in a situation where he would either have to wed some scheming old hag's crafty little bitch or ruin her reputation. Not that she personally would have anything against the vixen having her reputation ruined, but sixteen year old boys were so impressionable and naive about women that Fognir would consider his duty to marry the hussy. Her innocent baby boy was not ready for Gondor. Once the festivities were over she was sending him back to Rohan. Either to his sister and brother in law at Sandespit or his brother and sister-in-law at Aldburg.
Or maybe to the Wold, to ride aside the Steward's brother? That would keep Fognir's Sindarin alive. But would the son of Denethor remain in the Wold or would he return to Minas Tirith? The man himself had been tight lipped and evasive about his future when Aradehel had tried to sound him out.
Her youngest – Findes or Frithwith daughter of Kolbrand was sleeping in the crook of her arm having just finished suckling. Last year the Rohirrim had been more shocked and astonished by her age then scandalised by her pregnancy. For them a fifty five year old expectant mother was too mind boggling to make them wonder why was there no wedding in the offing. Ha! Little did they know that dunadanith often bore children into their sixties. Her great aunt Estendis even had had twins at seventy three!
The ones most vocal about her sunset motherhood in an unmarried state were her own children. Generally supportive yet telling her that she should be ashamed of herself. And at her age too!
She had been ashamed. A little. And only up to the moment she had looked in her second daughter's blue eyes.
Kolbrand was a sweet boy but she had turned down his chivalrous offer of marriage. With a bit of effort she could be his grandmother, that disqualified him as husband material. Aredhel allowed him to acknowledge Frithwith as his own but the child was hers to keep. The King had restored their estates – her husband's to Forlan and her dowry lands to her. This made her a rich woman and ensured her golden haired daughter a place in Gondorian society. Aredhel was too rich, too well connected and too unconcerned about the mores of the Southern Kingdom as to care about reputation.