Chapter 29: Royal Wedding

"What happened to Miss Independent?"

-Kelly Clarkson

As per my request, we didn't have a big party the night before my wedding like we did for Dinniel. Rather, my two best friends and I basically just sat up the whole night talking. (So yeah, it was pretty much like Dinniel's party, except there were fewer people and less wine).

"This just feels so weird," I said. "I mean, for heaven's sakes, I'm gettingmarried! How did this happen?"

"Temporary insanity?" Meleth suggested.

"Meleth," said Dinniel. "Not helping."

"Right. Sorry."

"It's okay, you guys, I'm not going to back out or anything," I assured them. "I'm just a little freaked out. Getting married is way out of character for me."

"Don't worry, honey, you'll be fine," said Dinniel, patting me on the shoulder. "Look at me. I've been married for years now, and am I any different?"

"Unfortunately, no," said Meleth. Dinniel whacked her with one of my pillows.

"I suppose I should consider myself lucky," I said, ignoring my friends. "I've found someone who I really love and who I'm fairly sure will treat me like an equal, and he loves me back, so that's good. I just wonder—what would Aunt Aredhel think?"

"I know what she'd think," said Meleth. "She'd be proud of you for having the guts to tell the guy you love how you feel about him and not being afraid to make a commitment to him, and she'd also probably be pleased that you have way better taste in men than she did."

Dinniel laughed. "Right on. What was with that husband of hers? Idril, you're the only one of us to ever talk to Eol; what was your impression of him?"

"Crazy, cynical, and seriously pissed off," I replied. "But I suppose Aunt Aredhel must have seen something in him, or she wouldn't have stayed with him all those years."

"Yeah, I think I know what she saw in him," said Dinniel wickedly. "And it wasn't his personality, you can bet your last earring."

"You've got a dirty mind, Dinniel," said Meleth. "Is that why Enerdhil still puts up with you?"

"Enough, you guys!" I said. "This is my last night as an innocent single girl. I want to enjoy that, thanks."

"You haven't been single for ages, Idril," Meleth pointed out. "What were all those years of hanging out with Tuor behind your dad's back?"

"And judging from what I've heard about how you and Tuor got engaged, you ain't too innocent either," giggled Dinniel.

"Okay, shut up now, I mean it! What time is it, anyway? One o'clock? That's it, I'm going to sleep. I have to get up in six hours and I need rest!"

Thus ended my last full day as an unmarried woman.

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Of course, I did have a few hours as an unmarried woman the next day, most of which were spent getting dressed (complicated), getting my hair done (simple, since Tuor had made me promise not to braid or do anything with my hair because he thought that was hot), helping Dinniel and Meleth get dressed/get their hair done (very, very complicated), and smelling a lot of extremely delicious food that I was too nervous to be hungry for and couldn't eat anyway because I couldn't get my dress dirty (torturous). I was glad that getting married was usually a once-in-a-lifetime type of deal, since this whole thing was very, very stressful.

At least my dress was pretty. Dinniel, master seamstress that she was, had made it, and I had to say that she knew her stuff. The dress was a low-cut wraparound thing, made of filmy white cloth that left slightly less to the imagination than I would have liked.

"My dad will freak if I wear this to my wedding," I'd told her when I'd first seen it.

"Who cares about that old stick-in-the-mud? Tuor's going to looove you in this," she'd replied. And, knowing how Tuor's (and most other guys') mind worked, I agreed with her that he probably would.

So here I was, standing in front of the mirror in my white dress which I could not get dirty under any circumstances, with my hair left loose and combed super-straight like it'd been at the party where I first kissed Tuor, and I was, for about the tenth time in my life, scared. Yep. I wasn't scared to talk to Eol after he'd killed my aunt and I wasn't even that scared while Dad was away at war, but I was terrified of getting married to someone who I knew loved me. I can beso pathetic.

"You're freaked out, aren't you," said Dinniel. "I can totally tell."

"Don't worry, sweetie," said Meleth kindly. "What could go wrong? Well, a lot, I guess, but that's beside the point. The point is that it won't. You're going to be fine. And if you're not, then at least we can still eat a ton of good food."

"It doesn't seem like that long ago when you guys were giving me my pre-wedding pep talk," Dinniel reminisced. "I suppose we'll be giving you one soon, Meleth."

Meleth giggled. "Oh, I don't know about that. Glorfindel and I haven't even talked about getting married yet."

"Better hurry up, girlfriend," I advised. "A popular guy like him is bound to have a girl on the side—if not now, then eventually."

"Oh my gosh, you think so?" said Meleth, looking horrified.

"No, of course not. I was just trying to pawn off some of my fear on you, and it looks like it worked. Now, I suppose we should be getting downstairs. Best to get this over with as soon as possible."

"I love her," I heard Dinniel say behind me to Meleth as we left my room. "She's so enthusiastic."

Dad met us downstairs, and smiled when he saw me in my dress. "Ah, you're ready. Girls, can you excuse Idril and me for a moment?"

"Sure," said Dinniel. "Come on, Meleth." Before she left the room, she turned to me and mouthed "You have got to tell us everything he said later."

"So…what's up, Dad?" I said, fiddling nervously with my lucky necklace. It had been a while since I'd had a private talk with Dad, and I was a little nervous about what he was going to say.

He sighed. "Turn around, would you?"

I spun around, liking how my skirt flared out around me. This dress rocked.

"You look beautiful," said Dad. "So much like your mother…you remind me more of her every day."

"You know, Dad, I'm a lot more like you than you think," I said. "Yeah, I look like Mom, but I'm smart and stubborn like you. Plus, I have your eyes."

"What, you think you got all your brains from me?" said Dad. "Let me tell you, young lady, your mother was one of the cleverest women I've ever met. She was just more people-smart than book-smart. Me, I was always a bit bookish, and, as my siblings and cousins used to call me, a 'geek'. Looks to me like you've inherited the best of both worlds."

"Wow, Dad," I said softly, starting to tear up a bit. "That may be the nicest thing you've ever said about me."

"Well, it's true. I know I haven't always been the best of fathers—and I will admit, I did neglect you a bit during your awkward period—but I always have and always will love you more than anything else. More than myself, more than my money, more than Gondolin itself."

"More than Maeglin?" I asked.

"I suppose so, seeing as he's my nephew and you're my daughter." Dad hugged me. "It's so hard to believe you're getting married already. At least I know that Tuor will treat you right."

"Hey, Dad, I have one last question for you, and you have to promise to answer it honestly," I said, pulling away. "Did you know that something was going on between Tuor and me?"

He smiled guiltily. "Maybe a bit. I noticed that there was some strong chemistry between you from the start, so I figured I'd just sit back and see how it went. As it turned out, that was the best route for me to take."

"Yeah, I probably wouldn't be here now wearing this dress and more makeup than I've ever worn in my life if you'd been constantly pushing me to get together with Tuor." I hugged him again. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too." We stood there hugging for a while, until finally Dad stood back and smoothed down the front of his robe. "Well, I suppose we'd better get going."

"I suppose we'd better," I agreed. "What would Tuor say if I was late for my own wedding because I was talking to my dad?"

"He'd probably pleased that you're actually talking to me instead of yelling at me," said Dad. "But nevertheless, let's be on our way. Time waits for no one—not even the King of Gondolin."

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I had a few seconds to talk to Tuor before the ceremony began. Technically, I wasn'tsupposed to be talking to him, as it was tradition that the couple didn't get to say two words to each other until the whole deal was over, but to heck with that. Since when do I respect dumb old rules? (Except the whole you-can't-marry-your-cousin deal, but that one actually wasn't all that stupid).

"Okay, then, this is it," I said. "In an hour we'll be married."

"This'll take anhour?" said Tuor. "Dang. I'm hungry, and I haven't gotten to eat all day because everyone's scared I'll get these stupid clothes dirty."

"Trust me, I feel your pain," I said. "After today I'm never wearing this dress again."

"That is some dress, though," said Tuor, looking me up and down. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I can't wait to get you out of it."

Bad girl that I am, I grinned and didn't slap him.

Our little semi-romantic moment was interrupted by Dinniel, who appeared and pulled me away, smiling apologetically at Tuor as she did so. "Sorry, loverboy, but we can't have you guys all over each other before the ceremony's even begun. You can make out later."

"'Course," said Tuor, nodding. "See you later, Idril."

"See ya," I said, following Dinniel towards where I was supposed to be.

"Still nervous?" she asked me devilishly.

"A little," I admitted. "But not nearly as much as I was before."

"That's my girl," said Dinniel. "Nothing like a quick rendezvous with the fiancé to lift your spirits. Okay, you ready to do this?"

"As ready as I'm ever going to be," I said. "Looks like I don't have much of a choice."

The ceremony went by in a blur, but I was pretty sure that nobody made any mistakes because within forty-five minutes or so Tuor was kissing me and everybody was cheering. And that was it. I was married.

To be honest, I didn't feel much different. Except that I was now even hungrier. Tuor seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"Thank the Gods that's over," he muttered. "I mean, no offense, Idril, but I seriously need some grub."

"I agree with you there," I said. "Well, looks like they've got quite a feat laid out—shall we enjoy our first meal as a married couple?"

Tuor slipped an arm around my waist. "I thought you'd never ask."

As we sat down by Dad and dug into the truly delicious food, I could feel Maeglin looking at me angrily from across the table.