Dawnstar and Friend Chapter 34
Eleanor's POV
On June 14th we meet up with the party of elves travelling to Minas Tirith.
I notice that those elves standing guard seem a little tense, but put that down to being in a foreign, human land.
When we enter the main tent I see the real reason. In the book and the film there are only contingents from Lorien and Rivendell there with their leaders.
This one includes Thanduil and some elves of Mirkwood. Thankfully he has left Adindel behind, probably to run Mirkwood in his brother's absence. There might also be the ulterior motive of the fact everyone knows how Adindel feels about humans, and one human in particular.
The look Thanduil shoots the twins confirms why he has joined the party.
Someone has obviously sent him a message about Elrohir and Miriel.
Once we have all said hello and whatever, not to mention saying to Arwen that Aragorn is awaiting her arrival breathlessly, Thanduil asks which of the twins is Elrohir (he apparently can't tell either) and then makes it absolutely, graphically clear why he should be very good to Miriel and never, ever, under-no-circumstances let her get hurt.
Once he has finished being fatherly he notices that Elladan and I are trying not crack up laughing and ask us what is so funny.
"Do you think Legolas has not already got round to saying that? What you said was almost word perfect!" I say, though my speech is slightly uneven as I am trying not to laugh.
Everyone in the party is extremely happy to see me, though they have already been informed that the me-dead thing was all a big hoax for the sake of Sauron.
We travel onto Edoras where I get the fun of introducing Eomer and Éowyn to the elves. I think they are a little flawed by the presences of so many elves at once, not to mention virtually all of the elfin royalty this side of Valinor.
On the 16th, we set out for Minas Tirith again and travel over the land.
One thing I that I am glad for is that Elrond (or, more probably, our maids) had the foresight to pack some clothes for us, both day and ball-gowns, not to mention some undamaged leggings and tunics.
Human clothes are all nice enough, but elfin clothes beat them every day I think.
The night before we arrive, two days before Midsummer, we stop by a stream and we all wash up nicely.
The next morning, Rodwen (who had been included in the group for obvious reasons) helps me to dress in a proper Rivendell formal gown. That means it leaves nothing to the imagination.
It is electric-blue with sea-blue underskirts and embroidery in gold and sky-blue.
The dress has one of those drooping cowl necks the seamstresses of Rivendell are so fond of and it has, unusually, a waistline at normal height, marked by an elegant pearl belt. The back actually finishes a bit higher than usual, both because they knew I would be riding a horse, to compensate for the belt, and because it is to be worn amongst humans who are rather more conservative.
Arwen is in a much more conservative dress, apparently wanting the humans she is about to become queen of not to have reason to comment on her dress on arrival in a bad way. I couldn't care less personally, but it is her choice after all.
The gates are open and the courtyard outside the palace and things in the top level is full of people. Actually so are the streets, and I think I know exactly why. I think someone might just have let slip about a royal wedding...
To my amusement, I see Miriel, Legolas, and Ginny's faces go a little pale when they see Thanduil turn up with Galadriel, Celeborn, and Elrond.
We have dismounted from our horses for the top level and Elrond leads the way bearing the Sceptre of Annuminas, symbol of the northern kingdom which Aragorn now rules.
After formally presenting Aragorn with these, he hands over Arwen as well.
Aragorn ignores whatever propriety there may be and hugs Arwen to him, kissing her senseless.
Once all the formality is done with, we go into the King's House and sit down in a sitting room. Most of the party would still camp down of the Fields, though people were sending down comforts to make the stay more comfortable for them. The royalty would be housed in the guest accommodation in the King's House.
When we are away from the crowd, Miriel greets Elrohir properly, and demonstratively, probably for the sake of her father.
She then greets her father, who does not comment about how she greets Elrohir I notice.
Ginny is very effusive in her greeting of Erestor, Silva, and their little tyke, sorry daughter.
Once all greetings are dealt with we sit down and actually talk to each other.
Unsurprisingly it does not take long for the question of when the wedding would be.
Aragorn is more than happy; he has prepared it for tomorrow, Midsummer's Day.
Later on in the evening, after the meal, Thanduil and Miriel disappear off. I happily curl up in Legolas' arms, having missed him terribly in his absence, well mine really.
Not long afterward, we start to tease Ginny about Amrothos, something I have forgotten the elves don't know about.
Erestor buts in and asks who Amrothos is with amusing speed.
Not long after that, I begin to wonder if the Inquisition gave him lessons at some point in history.
Eventually we are able to deflect the overprotective elf-lord's interrogation and, to change the subject, Silva asks me to sing some our world songs.
On pure mischief I sing a song called 'In These Shoes?' by Kirsty MacColl (I think that is her name). I think it shocked everyone but Ginny, who I had introduced it to before.
I spend much of the rest of the night regaling the elves with silly songs from our world. I take great joy introducing them to Tom Lehrer and some of the more juvenile songs of the Corries.
At some point shortly past midnight, I clear off to bed and am ably helped out of the dress by Rodwen, our maids having been housed in the servants' quarters of the King's House. Thankfully our human maids don't object to being replaced by elves, they like having less work, even if that work was for an elfin Princess of the oldest legends.
Well, tomorrow will be fun anyway...
Ginny's POV
The minute Ellie and the twins had set off to meet up with the other elves, Aragorn started making plans to marry Arwen as soon as she arrived. Can you blame him? The poor couple have been waiting for nearly forty years.
Firstly, Aragorn and his advisors calculated when Arwen and her family were due to arrive.
They are doing so when I walk past the Council Chamber. The door is ajar so, naturally, I can't help listening in.
Right, time to have a little fun. Carefully, I push the door open a little wider and slip inside – Aragorn and the Council are grouped about the round, central table, pouring over pieces of parchment.
I lean against a pillar and listen to their deliberations.
"So when precisely do you reckon that the elves will arrive?" Aragorn asks one of the haughtiest and most uptight members of the Council. I notice that it's the same one that objected so profusely to women being allowed on the Council – perfect.
"Well... Your Majesty..." he stutters. I smile, he clearly can't work that fast and appears to be playing for time.
"Given the route that they will be taking and... the fact that they will most likely be stopping for small periods along the way, I... er... I would say they would be due in Minas Tirith around..."
"Midsummer's Eve?" I put in casually.
Everyone spins round at the sound of my voice.
"How did... what... there's a woman in the Council Chamber!" the advisor blurts out. I put on my most dazzling and innocent smile,
"Well, My Lord, I couldn't help overhearing and you did seem to be struggling slightly with your calculations. King Elessar is such a busy man; so much to prepare for. I doubt he really has the time or the patience to be waiting around while you take your own sweet time in working out something so simple as how long a journey between Rivendell and Minas Tirith will take."
Aragorn then makes a very queer sound; it sounds like he's coughing, but the twinkle in his eye shows something different.
"Well, gentlemen, I shall leave you to your deliberations. My Lords, Your Majesty."
I curtsey slightly and walk serenely from the room.
Miriel and I laugh about it together when we're sitting in a private sitting room playing 'Fox and Geese' – an ancient Roman game which I discovered and fell in love with when I was at university.
When we've stopped laughing however, Miriel droops slightly and stares out of the window at the moon and stars. She's still not very happy at being separated from Elrohir.
She needs proper distraction, the kind of distraction that really only works here is that of practical distraction, i.e. she needs to be actively involved in something. But what, though?
My scheming little mind is still thinking about it the next day when Aragorn calls the entire household together. He stands there in front of us looking very regal.
"Everyone, as I'm sure you're all aware by now, there is a large party of elves journeying to Minas Tirith from Rivendell. They are due to arrive around Midsummer. One of the party is Lady Arwen, who is my betrothed. We are making plans for a wedding after they arrive, but I would prefer it if the arrangements were kept with the palace for now; at least until they are more definite..."
Hmmm...
"Fancy a little trip to the market place?" I say to Miriel as everyone disperses.
We don our cloaks and walk down to the lower levels of the city, Falathiel and Murrlin in tow.
"Over there! Come on!"
I tug Miriel's hand and lead her over to a cloth stall where I begin to look casually through the silks and velvets. Upon seeing us, the stall-holder comes bounding over, her most obliging and nothing-is-too-much smile fixed firmly in place.
"How can I help you, My Ladies?"
"We were just looking for some cloth for some new ball gowns, but it has to be of the finest quality..." I distractedly keep examining the fabrics. "...I mean, we don't want to go disgracing ourselves at the wedding. Oooo..."
I pretend to look closely at some purply-blue silk-taffeta.
"Wedding?" The stall-holder queries.
"Yes, between King Elessar and..." I gasp, theatrically. "...Oh dear, we weren't supposed to say anything."
"You can tell me, My Lady. I wouldn't dream of telling everyone else."
"Well, I suppose it can't hurt." I lean across and whisper, "There is a large party of royal elves making their way from Rivendell. King Elessar's betrothed is amongst them. They have been engaged for nearly forty years and he plans to marry her almost as soon as she arrives in Minas Tirith. Don't tell anyone I told you, top secret and all that."
As I step back, I see the stall-holder's face gleam with this new bit of gossip.
"Well, I think we've seen everything we want to; maybe we'll come back later. Come on, Miriel." I then lead the boggle-eyed Miriel away from the market.
She waits until we've reached a quiet alcove before speaking.
"What on the earth do you think you're doing? Aragorn told us specifically not to do that... he commanded it."
"He commanded his subjects not to do that. You are still a Princess of Mirkwood and I a Lady of Rivendell; we are not subject to his commands. Besides, I thought it sounded more a like a... request than an actual command."
"Well, I don't suppose we can do anything about it now, can we? She's probably told half the market already," exclaims an exasperated Miriel.
"We could still help things along a little," I say, cheekily.
Miriel shakes her head, but I can see her smile.
"Alright, but if and when Aragorn finds out, you will be taking all the blame. OK?"
We don't do anything quite so obvious after that; as Miriel said: half the market was probably told almost before we'd reached the King's House.
We 'help' though by going out into the city sometimes and acting excited and animated as though we're discussing something spectacular, we also 'stop' quickly if any of the marketers sidle up to us.
It doesn't take very long for Aragorn to find out either.
I can see by his face at dinner that he has something to say to everyone. When everyone rises after the meal, I nudge Miriel and we make a beeline for the door, but...
"Lady Virginia, Princess Miriel, where do you think you're going in such a hurry?"
Uh-oh – full names.
"Nowhere in particular, Your Majesty."
"Good. Then you can perhaps explain to me exactly why the whole city seems to be buzzing with gossip about my wedding. A cloth merchant has apparently told everyone that she was told by two very upstanding ladies, on the very I day I expressly desired no one to say anything no less."
I falter, I don't really have the courage to look Aragorn in the eye and give him the same excuse I gave to Miriel.
I'm surprised when Miriel pipes up,
"We were just so excited, Your Majesty. We thought that the people of Minas Tirith would be overjoyed at the news of the wedding of the first King they've had since Mardil became the first Ruling Steward of Gondor nearly a Millennium ago. Besides, we are not subject to your rule and it sounded more like a... request than an actual command."
Everyone, including me, stares at her. Legolas in particular seems flabbergasted at his sister's rash words.
Ninety years of running around the wilderness with nutter and I has that effect.
We all look at Aragorn with baited breath. He leans back in his chair.
"Well, just don't let me catch you disobeying my... requests again." He winks and we make a dash for the exit.
There wasn't really much point in hiding anything after that, so the wedding became the favourite topic of conversation amongst everyone.
The plan's ulterior motive worked as well – I haven't seen Miriel mope in days.
***
Midsummer's Eve dawns bright and full and everyone is up ready preparing to receive the elves.
One of Elrond's messengers arrived late last night with the news of their imminent arrival.
Owing to the formalness of the occasion, Miriel and I are once again dressed in the most formal of gowns. Naturally, Miriel's is green and silver, while mine is made from some of the purply-blue silk-taffeta I'd seen in the market. Well, I could hardly not get any now, besides, it is very beautiful material.
One thing about our dresses though, they're far more conservative than what we usually wear as they were made by the Gondorian seamstresses. It's a shame as I keep thinking back to that very revealing ball gown I wore in Rivendell when we came back from the Harad and Umbar. I'm sure Amrothos would have appreciated it...
Miriel, Legolas, and I are bit shaken when we see that Thanduil has also accompanied the Rivendell elves. You don't need a brain to work out why though as he shoots Elrohir a sharp look when he passes him.
Once all the formalities and romance are dealt with, we all greet our friends and families properly. Ada immediately pulls me into a bone-crushing hug and doesn't let go for so long that I'm in danger of being suffocated – I wonder how much Ellie actually told him of our adventures.
I then pick up Vanlanthiriel and hold her whilst hugging Naneth.
"What's this, Ginny?" asks Vanlanthiriel as she spots the chain with Amrothos' ring on it.
"Nothing." I say probably a little too quickly and instinctively try to hide it.
Luckily, Ada is talking to Elrond and doesn't notice; Naneth, on the other hand, is watching me closely.
After the evening meal, we all sit together in a light and airy sitting room. It doesn't take long for Ellie to bypass the formalities completely and launch into a teasing campaign with me acting as the butt of most of the jokes, all of which involve some mention of Amrothos.
Ada definitely notices this time and begins asking all sorts of questions.
"Who is this man?"
"He's the youngest son of the Prince of Dol Amroth."
"And what has he got to do with you? Where did you meet him?"
"We first met as we were marching to the Black Gate..."
"What happened?"
"Nothing much at first – I wasn't really interested, but Amrothos kept flirting with me..."
"What! He hasn't done anything improper has he? Because if he has..."
"Amrothos has been a perfect gentleman, actually..."
"But, you like him now?"
"After we saved each others' lives at Morannon, I sort of began to see him in a different light..."
"And..."
"And, we've sort of been getting closer since then." I finger my chain absent-mindedly; yet again, Naneth is watching. She's also smiling; I think she might have worked out the truth.
Ada is about to continue his rant, when Naneth saves me by asking Ellie to sing some songs from our world.
Everyone is suitably nonplussed when Ellie begins with 'In These Shoes?' At least it distracts Ada.
Ideally, Amrothos would have escorted me back to my chamber as he does most nights, but Ada coughs significantly, offering me his own hand.
I try to give Amrothos a reassuring look as I'm led from the room, but Ada's too quick. I do hope this isn't a sign of things to come...