Book Nine A wedding and a homecoming
iii Home and a bath
When their front door gently closed behind them, it was not a ghost, but Hador, the master of Elrond's personal household, who stood behind it. Hador had evidently left the feast before them, so that he could welcome them home personally. He had cared for Elrond through long ages in the valley, and protected him, Eären knew, with ruthless efficiency.
Now, that imposing, dignified elf bowed low and said, "Welcome home, Lord of Imladris. Welcome, Lady of Imladris."
"Hador!" said Elrond, thankfully surrendering his cloak to his waiting hands. "I feared we might not see our house this night! For the revelry was loath to end."
Hador took Eären's cloak also, and said, unusually talkative for him, "Was there ever a night like this in all the history of Imladris? Everyone has been so excited by your coming, Lord! I hope the festivities pleased you, for they have been long in the preparing."
"We were well pleased," said Elrond, laughing. "Though I fear that my Lady is exceedingly tired after her long day, and hard journey hither."
Hador now turned to her, and bowed again, for his manners were stately, as befitted the senior member of the household.
"My Lady – your maid, from far away in the White City, whose name I think is Frea? - has been given a room at the top of the house, next to Miriel, where she seems satisfactorily bestowed, and Miriel has done everything she could to make her comfortable. She sleeps now. I believe that Miriel felt that it was better for her to take this evening's duty, since she is the more rested, and Frea will return to duty on the morrow. Is this arrangement to your liking?"
"Indeed, it is just what I had hoped," said Eären, thankfully, "for I did not wish for Frea to have more to do today than she has already managed. She has come a very long way, Hador, as I know you will understand, and she is a very good girl, but must be both tired and bewildered by all that is new to her."
Hador nodded.
"I think Miriel understands her situation," he said, confidingly. "She is also a good girl, and very reliable. I hope that you will consider keeping her in your service, my Lady, for she enjoys it so much. Tomorrow, we can perhaps discuss the disposition of the whole household, including Miriel and Frea, for you must know that there are many new arrangements to make, in light of your marriage to the Lord Elrond."
"Yes, Hador," interrupted Elrond, who had wandered a little away from this dialogue, the call of his great study evidently drawing him, despite the lateness of the hour. "But not tomorrow! For know that I have promised the Lady of Imladris a long sleep and a good rest, after all her labours. I would not be made an oath-breaker."
Hador bowed in acknowledgement, at once, his dignity unassailable.
"When the lady is ready, my Lord, of course. Forgive me. Do you wish me to call Miriel, now, my lady, so that she can help you to your rest?"
"Oh, yes, Hador, and I thank you for everything," Eären said wearily, turning towards the inviting door of Lord Elrond's sitting room, across the hall. "Is there a fire?"
"There is a fire, and food and drink, if you wish it, my Lady. Your room has been prepared, and all your luggage unpacked and bestowed. Everything awaits you, and whatever you require, you need but ask."
Hador now mysteriously summoned up Miriel, as elves did, while Eären entered the long, low sitting room, ahead of him. The room was a favourite of old, and she sat before the fire a moment, feeling light-headed with exhaustion, stretching her hands towards the blaze, and remembering the first time she ever came here. From the hall, she heard, with a private smile, the Lord Elrond say firmly to Hador's retreating back, "You may give my lady all the rooms she requires, Hador – but she will sleep in my bed tonight!"
For the first time, almost, she saw a discreet smile tugged at Hador's lips, but he quenched it hastily, bowed impassively and said, "Yes, my Lord."
"And pray tell my lady that I shall be in my study for a little while, for I desire to see if any pressing business awaits me, after my long absence. But I will come to her shortly."
Hador opened his mouth to relay the message, and Eären said, smilingly, "I know, Hador! I need nothing more, tonight, apart from Miriel. I just want to bathe and rest now."
"Here she is," he said, with a further sweeping bow, and left them.
Miriel, bright eyed as ever, now bobbed into the room, saying, "What a wonderful night we have had, my Lady! I hope you enjoyed it."
"I have had a wonderful home coming," said Eären, stretching her arms and legs luxuriantly, as far as she could stretch them, to relieve the stiffness of long sitting, added to so many hours on horseback. As she put forth her hand, she could not but admire the way the sapphire bracelet caught the light. It was a gift of great and lasting beauty, she saw. A gift of great love!
"Who could have asked for more?" she said now. "Pray thank all those who worked so hard to make it a night to remember. But now I must sleep, or I shall topple over where I stand!"
"I have prepared the pool for you, my Lady," said Miriel. " If you will come this way . . . "
Knowing how reviving the pool could be was a help, Eären thought, otherwise she would have gone straight to bed. She followed Miriel through the sitting room and down the long corridor that led to the back of the house and up into the large woodland clearing which housed the pool. Coming upon it was like a pleasant dream, she thought now, where it lay green, sparkling and tranquil, surrounded by a thick hedge, and under its own canopy of strong-growing, leafy trees, with their heavy branches laced overhead, to form a cosy and surprisingly draught-free, enclosed area. It was lit nevertheless by the faraway gleams of the stars that trickled in pale, shimmering pathways through gaps in the foliage here and there. Despite these outlets, it was warm, even in the depths of winter, for a pall of warm, welcoming steam rose from the water, bringing with it the mingled scents of many woodland plants that pervaded the atmosphere round about. In addition, her nose detected something else tonight – a rich, exotic scent, which was new to her nostrils, and which contained a sensuous hint of the flowers of strange lands, far to the south.
"Lord Elrond made this scent new for you, to welcome you home!" said Miriel proudly, seeing her nostrils twitch at it. "It is a perfumed oil from the Great Sea, brought by elves that have travelled that way, long years ago. He wanted everything to be perfect for you. I have done my best to make it so."
"I am spoiled," said Eären, but her heart was glad at the many signs of Elrond's love for her that she had encountered already, and the promise they offered, of many good things to come. For she had, to tell the truth, felt somewhat home-sick and sad, as they descended into the valley that day, even as they rejoiced in the warm welcome of the elves.
With Miriel's help, she divested herself of her fine dress and jewels, and when Miriel had pinned her hair high on her head, she stepped thankfully into the healing waters of Imladris once more.
"It's wonderful!" she murmured appreciatively, as Miriel smiled happily and watched. She swam a few lethargic strokes across the pool and back, though she was too stiff at first to be able to move far. However, as she leaned happily against the bank nearest the house, moving her legs and feet gently to keep them afloat, she felt the familiar gentle easing away of all soreness in her muscles, and her body began to feel light, fluid and free once more. It was a luxury she had not tasted for far too long, it seemed and she realised once more how much better than her old bath the pool actually was! Life, she thought, could be very good indeed in Imladris, for a mere mortal such as her.
Miriel now bent and let down her hair, and washed it and her back and neck in something fragrantly perfumed, letting its long strands float freely around her across the surface of the water. At home, she would not have thought of washing her long hair so late at night, but Elrond, she had noticed, never worried about such matters, and she resolved now to do as the elves did, and trust to their ways, which, she had often learned, were far better than those of men. If the magical sweet air of Imladris would seem to dry Elrond's beautiful hair easily, she trusted that it would do so with hers also!
Feeling luxuriantly clean and fresh at last, she soon began to experience a lightness and well-being that always suggested to her that the water had elvish healing properties. The fragrance of the water rose to her head, and she allowed it to take her away to some balmy and pleasant place, where sunlight filtered through cool leaves, and she lay on her back and watched the clouds overhead, sailing lazily by. Indeed, the very sound of the sea now seemed to enter her ears, as though brought here by the perfume. She had discovered, when she used the pool before, that if she allowed it to take her where it would, she would be transported thus, as though her human, controlling mind was put out of commission for a while, and she was able to experience something, at least, of what it was like to be an elf.
Before long, all her aches and pains from the saddle seemed gently soothed away, and she became as though she were floating on air, free and relaxed as a bird, winging over the far horizon. Thus, lost to all sense of time and place, she lazed in the soothing water, dreaming, with her eyes closed, for a long while, and a great happiness stole over her, which she gave herself up to, willingly. She saw that, to be happy in a world vastly different from where she had been brought up, might need some trust and willingness in her to discover what it had to show her, and she resolved to discover all that she could that had the power to make her happy.
She was brought back to the present by a familiar low splash beside her, and opening her eyes, she saw Elrond, who had come from his study as he often did, to join her there. He lathed his body with woodland scented oil, now more familiar to her, since she had come to know him closely, and dipped beneath the surface of the water to refresh his dark, silky hair of the dust of the trail. He swam a little to free his muscles of the saddle, like her, and then, much more quickly refreshed and relaxed than she, he came to her where she lay at the edge of the pool, smiling, and sliding his body gently between her spread-eagled legs. He drew her body close to his, to kiss her long and tenderly on the mouth, while water gently streamed from their wet hair over their bright faces. They clung to each other for a while, without speaking, and let the healing water of Imladris steam away their sorrows and care.
Soon enough she began to experience the quickening of the pulse that always came with his nearness to her.
"I have sent Miriel away, my love," he said tenderly now, sensing the beginnings of her desire, and smoothing her forehead, gazing upon her smooth, shining, wet face. "Are you happy for me to love you, or are you too tired? For your journey has been exhausting, I know, and we have shared many bitter partings, these long weeks, on our homeward way. You need only speak, for I shall never ask of you what you are not willing to give freely."
She laughed, moving her body pleasurably against his, and saying softly, "This is not a serious question, I trust? For I can never come close to you, without longing for you, my dearest lord! You forget how I love you!"
She kissed his brow, and his eyelids, and his fair cheeks, and let her soft mouth drift down his face towards his mouth, until he was in an agony of desire to meet her lips. When he had kissed her long, once more, he said gently, "Then come to our bed, my dearest and loveliest wife, and let your husband make love to you as he has longed to do these many weary miles!"
Now he leaped out of the pool, with his customary energy – was he ever tired, she wondered? – and slipped into his robe, before holding out a great, heavy linen towel for her to step in to. He dried her body and hair gently all over, then helped her to put on her robe and took her hand, leading her back through the silent house to his bedchamber. Here, she saw with delight, that sheets of white silk covered the bed, and fresh flower petals were strewn about the bed and the coverlet. The room was full of late autumn flowers and foliage, decorating every corner, and beautiful scents were everywhere.
Now he sat her before his dressing table, as he had sometimes done before, and took a brush, and brushed her hair in long, tireless strokes, and sure enough the dampness seemed to disperse quite quickly, and soon it was as dry as though she had sat upon the terrace at home for two hours, and it shone like spun gold.
"The air is magic here," she said, smiling at him through the mirror. "For my hair is dry in half the time it takes in the White City."
"I do not know what you mean by magic," said Elrond, leading her to the comfort of his bed. "It is perhaps rather that Imladris is a place where things know their duties! Air is made for drying hair, is it not?"
She dissolved into laughter at this, and he laughed also, his wild, elvish laugh and he took off her robe, took some fresh balm in his hands and massaged her body all over, in the way that she loved. Their laughter quickly gave way to the intense pleasure of being close to each other once more, and now he slipped into bed beside her, wrapping his nakedness around her, and taking her to his heart, with a fierce longing that almost took her breath away. Then he made love to her at last, with both tenderness and an almost furious passion that seemed to challenge her to surrender her very soul to him, and make her more truly his wife than ever before, even during the darkest of their nights together, before the War.
Neither of them spoke much, until their first passion had been satisfied, and indeed words seemed superfluous, so intense was their delight in each other. Nevertheless, when he could speak, he said, still buried in her hair and her beautiful body, "I have so longed to make love to you, my loveliest Eären, just like this, all through the long days and nights of our travelling. Forgive me that I could not – for even if the circumstances of our journey had allowed us more time and freedom, I think all the many pains of parting became a barrier that I found I could not overcome."
Sighing, she said gently, "I knew that well enough, my Lord. I felt something of the same constraint, I fear. Yet I knew that there would come a time for us, and I did not mind the waiting." Then she smiled at her own remark, seeing that she might be misunderstood, and said playfully, "Well, to tell truth, I minded it a great deal! I did not blame you for it, which is what I meant to say! – I knew that you loved me, and I never doubted that. That was all that mattered. However, I am so very glad that the barrier has lifted now, at last. For your loving me the way you do is very precious to me. And I was so hungry for it!"
Much moved, he kissed her wildly everywhere, wanting to touch and taste every inch of her body, so that it seemed as though passion would flare again quickly between them, but after a moment, with a deep sigh, he desisted, saying, "There is no hurry. You are tired, and I must give you time to rest now. Yet hunger, my beloved one, is just the right word – I have hungered, also, like a starving wretch, these last months, for the touch, and the taste and the smell of you! So now I need to remember that this is not our last meal in Middle-earth!"
They both laughed at this thought, and sank back a while, upon their thick, plump pillows, he with his arm beneath her neck, and a careless hand upon her soft white breast.
"I promise you shall never go hungry again," said Elrond, now, rolling over a little, to see her face, thinking of the metaphor still. "Unless by your own desire. I wish to give you the life you deserve – one that is full to the brim of bliss, of every kind." Thinking aloud, it seemed, he added after a while, "Yet, perhaps, not always here, in Imladris. It seems to me, now, that I may wish to wander abroad sometimes, for in the dark days we have lived through, I grew weary of the world outside Imladris. Perhaps you too, my love, may like to see more of the great beauty of Middle-earth? For it is a wondrous place. Though I am halfelven, yet the elvish blood in me is strong, I think, and it is ever the way of the elves to wander abroad, and sleep in the long grass under the stars. I would like to do that again, I think, before my time in Middle-earth comes to an end."
"I will gladly do so, my lord," she said softly, stroking his hair, and kissing his cheek. She held his face before her, a moment, between her palms, gazing into his great eyes seriously. "Now that we are one, I mean to do whatever the elves do. I cannot be the wife of an elf and keep on doing what the race of men do. Therefore, show me how to live the life of an elf, and I shall rejoice in it."
He was more moved by this than anything she had ever said to him, and he held her very close to his heart a long while. At last, he looked at her once more, saying, "Then you shall live the life of an elf while you may. You shall know great bliss, and gain great knowledge, and abundant wisdom. Nevertheless, remember that every life has its shadow, and the shadow for us is the fading of all things, even though we remain as we are - and it cannot be prevented."
Elrond paused, adding thoughtfully, "Yet I think the elves, too, created the dark days of Sauron, for they were unwilling to surrender to fading. Now at last I understand that fading is part of our life's bliss, and not alien from it. Therefore, take fading to your heart also, as part of your happiness, and very little will disturb your peace in the days to come, my beloved wife."
Though she did not entirely understand, then, what he said, she felt that it was their most important exchange thus far, and she kept it in her heart, until all became clear to her.
Now Elrond took a draught of one of his soothing potions, which he had had placed on the beside table for her, saying, "Here is the soothing drink I promised you, and you shall sleep until you wake, and feel renewed in body and spirit."
Now truly spent, but deeply happy, she swallowed the drink, and slept in the crook of his arm, entering what seemed to her a deeply refreshing glade, far from the noise of war, violence and death. The world turned, and turned again, and still she slept, and her sorrows drifted silently away.
