Disclaimer: I still own none of this.

A/N: Thank you for being patient with me about this story as I really don't have a lot of time in a week to write, which really bums me out. I'm not too happy with this chapter as I wrote over the course of a week and a half, so if you could spare like ten seconds to review I would love it! Thank you

Chapter 36

Arwen POV

I rode next to Eówyn as we made our way up through the town towards the top of Minas Tirith. "I can't wait to see Rian; I bet she's so excited about all this." She murmured and I nodded, "I know I would be. I am a little upset that Lindir has already sailed and they can't come to my wedding, but I feel that going to theirs makes up for it. I wonder what Ariana's dress is going to look like?" I asked and she nodded, smiling at one of the guards that nodded at her.

"I imagine it's going to be simple and feminine, but still holds on to everything she is." Eówyn said and I focused as we stopped up on the Terrace. We dismounted and looked around, Faramir approached us. "My king apologises for not being able to make it out to meet you, but an important matter arose this morning that needed his help. The lady Ariana is currently in a meeting with the women that have been aiding her in planning the wedding. If you wish I can take you to them?" He asked and we nodded, following him through the halls of the citadel to a room.

I could hear voices inside and we paused to listen. "What on this Earth were you thinking? Do you know how many people saw the King leaving your room this morning? They think that you have already consummated your relationship and that this wedding is merely a formality, that you're with child and the king does not wish it to be a bastard." I heard a slap ring through the air and Eówyn threw open the doors.

"What in the name of the gods is going on in here?" She demanded as Faramir and I followed her into the room. Ariana was stood clutching her cheek and staring at the woman stood over her. She blinked looking at us and then she moved so quickly that none of us realised what she was doing. The room dropped in temperature and a bone-chilling cold swept through the room. We stared at her and the women looked terrified, her eyes began to glow bright white, her hair began to blow in the wind that appeared from nowhere. Ice began to crystallise around the room and we backed away to the edge of the room.

"I have had it with your behaviour." Ariana's voice came out completely toneless. I blinked; her voice was completely against everything I knew of her. It was as cold as the winds she was commanding. "I invite you to help me plan my wedding, yet everything I have said has been disregarded." She snapped out in the same toneless voice. Suddenly the door slammed open and Aragorn burst in followed by Legolas, Boromir and Eómer, he stared at the scene before darting over to Ariana.

"Ariana enough!" He barked out, grabbing on to her arms and shaking her slightly. She blinked and her eyes changed back to their normal forest green. He looked down at her and cupped her face in his hand, "A'mael what caused this?" He whispered to her and she closed her eyes, sighing. "Tá mé brón orm mo ghrá. I have just had enough of the way they have been treating me." She whispered and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. The women began to whisper quietly and I moved over to them.

They stopped as I stood in front of them. "You would dare disrespect the woman who is going to be your queen in the way that you have. I have barely been in the city for more than an hour and I have heard and seen insults that make me wonder if you truly care about her or if you just want to gossip." I said to them, aware that everyone in the room was focusing on me. "What insults have you seen sister?" Aragorn asked his voice quiet and I knew that he was trying to hold on to his temper.

"When we approached the door with Faramir we heard one of the women berating Ariana, She said 'What on this Earth were you thinking? Do you know how many people saw the King leaving your room this morning? They think that you have already consummated your relationship and that this wedding is merely a formality, that you're with child and the king, does not wish it to be a bastard.' This was then followed by a slap. We then entered the room to find this woman stood over Ariana, who was holding her cheek." I told him, watching his face carefully.

He froze before turning to Boromir. "Have some of the guards come and escort all these women out of my sight before I forget myself and pull my sword. Also have the woman Arwen pointed out placed in the cells for the rest of the day for assaulting my betrothed; I have had enough of this." He said and pulled Ariana closer to him. She turned her face to look out of the window and refused to look at anyone in the room. Aragorn inhaled deeply as the door closed on the women and guards.

Eómer walked to Eówyn and pulled her into a hug, "Good to see you sister. How are you?" He asked and she grinned, before telling him all the latest news from Rohan. I moved over to Aragorn and he released Ariana to hug me. "Hello brother. Are you well?" I asked him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He smiled down at me slightly and nodded. "I am well, although I would be better if people stopped assaulting the woman who holds my heart." He said his eyes travelling to where Ariana stood gazing out of the window.

He moved to stand behind her and rested his hands on her hips, "What troubles you A'mael?" He asked and she pointed out of the window. "Those are my elders. They have bought so many people with them and I don't know why. I know that only two of that party are here for me, the others I feel are here to see me fail at this. They want me to fail and I know that stories of my outburst this morning are going to get back to them." She spoke softly and I moved to stand next to her, catching Aragorn's frown and the glint in his eye that suggested he was planning on doing something to protect Ariana.

I grasped her hand and she turned to look at me. I smiled, "I will never be far from your side from now until the moment you get married." I told her and Eówyn moved up on her other side, copying my gesture. "That goes for me as well. You helped me gain so much more respect from my people and I can never thank you enough for that. Don't worry we're better advisors than the pack of city chits." She smirked and Ariana laughed softly. I smiled and watched as Aragorn's face lost some of its tension. "Well we should get ready to greet them then. I want them to see how right you are for this." He whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of her head and she turned to look up at him. "You're right my king. I will see you out on the terrace." She kissed his chin and moved from his hold.

He watched her go and I smirked at the look of longing on her face. "Soon brother, soon." I told him as I moved to follow her. Eówyn moved with me and we giggled at the look on Aragorn's face at the comment. We moved down the corridor to Ariana's room and knocked on the door. It opened and we walked into the room, Ariana sat near the fire tears running down her face silently. We both moved over to her and sat either side of her, I wiped away her tears. "Ariana melon nin, lle tyava quel?" I asked her and she nodded. "I'm just so angry at myself for losing my temper at those women. They weren't even worth it and I know that it's going to get back to those who are travelling with the High Priests and they are going to bring it out at every possible moment, twisting it to seem like I always lose my temper."

She stood and began to pace in front of the fire, Eówyn stood and pulled her into a hug. "Shh, don't think on it right now. Let's just concentrate on getting you ready for greeting them. Come on show us what you've got to wear and we'll make you look even more like the queen you're going to be." She told her and Ariana nodded, going to her wardrobe and pulling the doors open. I walked over and found a dress that was a light green that reminded me of the foam on the sea as the sun was setting.

"Here wear this one and then sit down. I'll do your hair." I told her and she nodded, moving behind the screen to put the dress on and we both gasped as she walked out. The colour set off the slight tan to her skin and made her eyes seem an even brighter green. She smiled slightly before sitting on one of the stools and turning her back to me, unwinding her hair from its braid. I stared at the length of her hair, having never seen it down. "Your hairs so long. I never realised it was this long." Eówyn said sitting beside her, Ariana shrugged, "I never have reason to wear it down and I feel that it gets in my ways too much, but I could never cut it. My mother always loved me with long hair." She told us and I nodded, moving behind her.

I brushed out the thick waves and began to softly braid it in the typical style of high elves. I wound it around her head creating a crown from her own hair. I moved over to the silver box that was on a table near her mirror, I looked inside and found some small hair jewels. I brought them over and began to place them around the braids. When I stood back from her and looked at what I had done from the front it looked like she had stepped straight out of the water. The jewels in her hair sparkled in the light like drops of water and with the dress she looked so elegant and feminine.

"There we go, let's go show them that you are everything they think you aren't." Eówyn said and I shot her a glare. Ariana giggled slightly, "You might not be saying that when you meet them." She said softly and we moved out of her room and down the corridor towards the terrace. As we stepped through the doors we saw Aragorn greeting what must have been the elders. Just as Ariana stepped into the light two of the figure broke away from the crowd, bowed quickly to Aragorn and then darted towards us. "Ariana!" The tallest of the pair cried out, his dark hair flying around his shoulder as he skidded to a stop in front of her.

"Sirian!" She squealed out as he picked her up in a hug and spun her around; she began to giggle and swayed slightly as he set her down. The other sandy haired one steadied her and then pulled her into a tight hug, "Hello Ari. How are you?" He asked her softly and she whispered something to him. He nodded and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Where's this man that you're to marry then?" Sirian asked her and she shook her head before pointing over at Aragorn, who was watching the interaction intently.

"Bit scruffy looking isn't he." He said before flinching as the other man slapped his arm. "What Thian? He is." Ariana giggled at the suffering look Thian gave Sirian. "That's the king you dolt. You can't go around telling him he's scruffy." I smiled at the banter between the two of them; it reminded me of Eómer and Boromir. "But my dearest husband, I am merely stating what I see." I raised an eyebrow at that and looked towards Ariana, but she was looking intently at the people who had come with the High Priests. I followed her gaze and found several of them looking disgusted at the men in front of me.

Aragorn walked over towards us. "Your Highness, forgive my husband. I believe he was dropped on his head one too many times as a child." Thian said bowing, grinning up at Aragorn cheekily. Aragorn chuckled and waved a hand. "It's no problem I take no offence. I have tried to clean up now that I sit on a throne, but it seems that you can take the man out of the wild. The wild however seems to stick with him." Aragorn said, smiling down at Ariana when she tucked herself under his arm, "I like you like that though so it's all fine." She said pressing a kiss to his cheek and Aragorn smiled brightly down at her.

"Oh that is sickening. Look the freaks all happy, wonder if he it's because he fucks her?" Someone in the crowd said loudly and a few men snickered. Aragorn turned to them, angry. "Do you want to come out here and say that or would you prefer to cower in anonymity?" He snarled out and Ariana placed a hand on his chest. "Mo ghrá it's fine. We know the truth and that's all that matters." She whispered to him. He nodded, looking down at her before looking up as three men were pushed to the front of the crowd by three of the guards.

"These are the men you wanted sire." One of the guards said as one the men turned around and he began to speak a language I didn't know. Ariana stepped forward and raised her hand. The light that had begun to glow in the man's hand extinguished and she lowered her hand. "Do not ever try to curse the men who guard this city. I will not stand for it." She snapped out and suddenly the man who had tried to curse the guard was kneeling on the floor, staring over at her.

"You have never been able to do that before child. Where did you learn it?" One of the High Priests asked. Ariana tensed slightly and turned to them, dipping into a shallow bow. "High Priests. I have always been able to perform this magic, I just never felt comfortable enough in my own skin to do so. Now that I have found the place that I belong, I feel that I can show the true extent of my powers to those around me and not be judged by them." She stood proudly by Aragorn, her head held high.

Aragorn smiled and placed an arm around her, "We do not discourage those that are different or who come from different backgrounds in my city. Ariana's magic is one of the main reasons we even have a city left standing and why there were so many survivors from the battles we fought in." Aragorn said proudly and the High Priests looked taken aback. "We do not discriminate against any who live within our community. We treat them all fairly." One said and Eówyn snorted, "Forgive me, but if you treated everyone fairly then Ariana would not have to parade around as a faceless man, she would have been able to show the world who she is."

Again the priests seemed to be shocked, but before anything more could be said Ariana stepped forward. "Enough of this. The purpose of your visit was to celebrate, not to start an argument." She chided both companies, but only Eówyn and Aragorn looked regretful. "Lady Ariana is right; this is not the time for such arguments. If you will follow me a feast has been prepared for your arrival." Aragorn said as he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and we followed them into the dining hall.