Three days is what it took for Gandalf and Pippin to reach Gondor. While Amdi and Aragorn were in Rohan, sneaking away for secret picnics and horseback rides, trying to catch up on the 30 years they had spent apart, enjoying the calm while they could, Gandalf and Pippin had just made it to Minas Tirith. Not wasting any time, as soon as they entered the city Gandalf had Shadowfax take them to the very top of the city where the Steward would be residing. As they walk towards the door they pass a dead white tree. Pippin spots it. "It's the tree! Gandalf, Gandalf." he says almost in disbelief
"Yes, the white tree of Gondor. The tree of the King. Lord Denethor however, is not the King. He is a steward only, a caretaker of the throne." Gandalf told him before he stops and turns to the hobbit. "Now listen carefully. Lord Denethor is Boromir and Amidirel's father. To give him news of his beloved son's death would be most unwise. And do not mention Frodo or the Ring. And say nothing of Aragorn and Amdiriel either. In fact, it's better if you don't speak at all Peregrin Took." concluded the wizard. Pippin nodding in understanding and followed behind Gandalf as they walked through the massive hall. Approaching the throne where a man sits in a seat at the base of the steps to the throne.
"Hail Denethor son of Ecthelion, Lord, and Steward of Gondor." announced Gandalf as he bowed his head to the man in respect but remained Denethor bent over a broken horn.
"I come with tidings in this dark hour and with counsel." Gandalf continued.
"Perhaps you come to explain this. Denethor says as he shows the horn to them. "Perhaps you have come to tell me why my son is dead."
"Boromir died to save us my kinsman and me. He fell defending us from many foes." explained Pippin as he approached the throne and knelt down before the steward.
"Pippin." Gandalf tried to stop but the hobbit continued "I offer you my service, such as it is in payment of this debt."
"This is my first command to you. How did you escape and my son did not? So mighty as a man as he was." demanded Denethor.
"The mightiest man may be slain by one arrow and Boromir was pierced by many." Pippin explained. Denethor then became visibly upset by the news of how his son had been killed at the hand of the enemy.
Gandalf walked forward hitting Pippin with his staff to move him out of the way.
"Get up!" he told the halfling.
"My lord, there will be a time to grieve for Boromir but it is not now. War is coming. The enemy is on your doorstep. As a steward, you are charged with the defense of this city. Where are Gondor's armies? You still have friends. You are not alone in this fight. Send word to Theoden of Rohan. Light the beacons." Gandalf advised him.
Denethor had to hold back a sneer. "You think you are wise Mithrandir. Yet for all your subtleties you have not wisdom. Do you think the eyes of the White Tower are blind? I have seen more than you know. With your left hand, you would use me as a shield against Mordor, and with your right, you would seek to supplant me. I know who rides with Theoden of Rohan. Oh yes, word has reached my ears of this Aragorn, son of Arathorn. And I tell you now. I will not bow to this Ranger from the North and I refuse to bow to my disgraceful exiled daughter. Last of a ragged house long bereft of Lordship."
"Authority is not given to you to deny the return of the King and Queen, steward." Gandalf replied sternly but Denethor jumped up angrily. "The rule of Gondor is mine and no others!"
Pippin looked between Gandalf and Denethor as they stared at each other angrily. Gandalf turned "Come!" he instructed Pippin, seeing that he would not win over the man as they walked from the hall quickly.
"All had turned to vain ambition. He would use even his grief as a cloak!" Gandalf all but growled as he looked back at the stubborn steward. "A thousand years this city has stood and now at the whim of a madman it will fall! And the white tree, the tree of the King and Queen will never bloom again."
"Why are they still guarding it?" Pippin asked as they walked through the courtyard.
"They guard it because they have hope. A faint and fading hope that one day it will flower. That the King and Queen will come and this city will be as it once was before it fell into decay.
The old wisdom born out of the west was forsaken. Kings made tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the old names of their descent dearer than the names of their sons.
Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry or in high, cold towers asking questions of the stars. And so the people of Gondor fell into ruin.
The line of Kings failed. The white tree withered. The rule of Gondor was given over to lesser men. Amidiriel fought for the people, for them to be restored and there was hope but only for a moment before it was snuffed out." Gandalf explained to the young hobbit as they walked along the parapet to the end.
Pippin moves away from Gandalf looking at the mountains of Mordor and the disturbances that go on there.
"Mordor." Pippin whispers in disbelief.
"Yes, there it lies. This city has dwelt ever in the sight of its shadow."
"A storm is coming." Pippin noted
"This is not the weather of the world. This is a device of Sauron's making. A broil of fume he sends ahead of his host. The Orcs of Mordor have no love of daylight, so he covers the face of the sun to ease their passage along the road to war. When the shadow of Mordor reaches this city it will begin." Gandalf told him, still looking off in the distance.
"Well, Minas Tirith very impressive. So where are off to next?" Pippin asked all too eager to leave the city before the war came "Oh, it's too late for that Peregrin. There's no leaving this city." Gandalf said and then looked towards Mordor again
"Help must come to us."
Back in Rohan, it had been five days, five restless days, training, and a lot of waiting, something that Amdiriel and Aragorn were never really good at. The first three days were okay because they knew how long it would take to get to the white city but now they grew anxious. Amdiriel had just existed the Golden Hall in a pair of clean pants and shirt. She had just come from the shower after a long training session with Legolas, Eomer, Gimli, Aragorn, and some of the other men. Training ranged from archery to duels to hand to hand combat. It had taken up a better part of the morning so her mind wasn't allowed to stray too far which she was grateful for. She now wondered the grounds looking for the heir of Elendil, who she soon found sitting on the steps near the watchtower because it gave you the perfect view of the snow-covered mountain that held a beacon on top of it.
Aragorn sat there and brought the last of the soup to his lips. Aragorn tensed for a second as he heard footsteps neared but he relaxed as soon as he heard the lightness of the steps, knowing who wore those boots. Amdiriel smiled as she watched Aragorn relaxed as she joined him at his side, letting her hand fall to his shoulders to give them a squeeze. "You're tense." She told him and moved so she could sit behind him, her legs on either side of him. ''You don't have-" Aragorn started to say but a soft groan left his lips as Amdiriel started to massage his shoulder muscles. "You were saying?" Amdiriel teased. Aragorn was about to reply with something snarky but Amdiriel applied a little bit more pressure to his shoulder causing another groan to leave his lips and a giggle to leave Amdiriel's.
"You carry the weight of a kingdom that is not yet yours to carry." Amdiriel whispered to him. Aragorn sighed heavily as he relaxed into Amdiriel's touch. "As do you, my queen." he replied. Amdiriel could not help but giggle at the endearment. "It is a burden we have always carried no matter how far life has taken us. It is something fate would not let us run from." Amdiriel said to him. "All I would gladly endure if that meant having you in my life forever." Aragorn replied as he grabbed one of her hands and brought it to his lips. Just then Aragorn heard laughing in the distance, he turned and found four young children playing in the dirt, laughing as they chased each other.
"Do you ever think about the future? About children? I know we spoke of it years ago but is that still something you want?" Aragorn asked almost nervously. A lot had changed since their late-night meetings on the seashore of Minas Tirith but being the father of Amdiriel's children was not something that had changed.
"I do...I have seen them" Amdiriel confessed. Aragorn spun around "Them?" he asked cautiously. Amdiriel gave him a small smile and nodded "A little boy and a little girl...Our son looks exactly like you."
"And certainly our daughter will be the mirror image of her mother." Aragorn said as a tear fell from his eye, leaning in and place his hand over Amdiriel's cheek before giving her a loving kiss on her lips. "Tell me how you saw them." Aragorn then whispered against her lips. Amdiriel smiled and pulled away just a bit. "It's kind of a long story." she admitted. "Well, we do have the time for it." he reminded her. Amdiriel smiled at him. "Okay but..." Amdiriel stopped when she saw something in the distance catch her eye. Aragorn followed to where Amdiriel gaze lead as they both rose to their feet almost in disbelief. The beacon was lit. "Gondor." Amdiriel whispered as she then looked to Aragorn before the two both ran for the Golden Hall. Aragorn burst in through the doors, Amdiriel right on his tail.
"The beacons of Minas Tirith!" Aragorn informs everyone who has stopped what they are doing. "The beacons are lit!" Amdiriel shout as both then run to the king. "Gondor calls for aid!" Aragorn tells Theoden who stands there almost hesitate for a moment and in shock. There was complete silence throughout the Hall as all awaited the king's answer, some unsure of what his answer would be. But finally, he did "And Rohan will answer! Muster the Rohirrim." he orders and Amdiriel could feel a weight being lifted from her shoulders. She turned and looked to Aragorn who was already looking down at her. She smiled and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I will tell you the story later." She promised him. "I will hold you to that, my queen." he replied before they went to gather their things.
It was just a few short hours before everyone was ready to ride out. Legolas and Gimli were already on their horse looking out as the Rohirrim began to assemble in the streets of Edoras. Aragorn and Amdiriel were outside he stables, readying their horses when Eowyn joined them with her own horse in tow. "You ride with us?" Aragorn questioned. "Just to the encampment. It's tradition for the women of the court to farewell the men." she told him. Something caught Aragorn's eye so he moved a blanket to reveal Eowyn's sword only for her to snatch it down back over it and looked at him.
"The men have found their captain. They will follow you into battle. Even to death. You have given us hope." She told him as she smiled at him. This caused Aragorn to turn away uneasy a little bit as he turned to look at Amdiriel who was biting her lip. He could see now as Eowyn had excluded Amdiriel from what she had said. Amdiriel had been fighting to defend Rohan for a long time. He could see in Eowyen's eyes the admiration she held for him but he knew in his heart they could never be returned.
Aragorn walked around to Amdiriel "Are you ready?" he asked. Amdiriel turned to the should be king. She knew there was much more meaning behind the simple question. To be honest, she didn't know, she hadn't been to the White City in 30 years, she didn't know how she would face her father, how the battle would go. "As ready as I could ever be." she told him as her hand unconsciously went to the pendant that hung around her neck. Aragorn landed in and placed a kiss on her temple. "Together." he told her. "Together." she nodded to him and placed a quick peck to his lips before they turned and mounted their horses.
They filed down to the main street of the city where Amdiriel spotted Merry struggling to get his pony to move forward. So as she passed by she clicked her tongue a the horse, causing the animal to move forward. Merry smiled brightly thinking he got the animal to obey his command as Amdiriel chuckled and joined Legolas, Gimli, Theoden, and Eomer at the front of the collum.
Eomer then turned to face his men and began to shout "Now is the hour, Riders of Rohan. Oaths you have taken. Now fulfill them all, to Lord and Land! Hah!" with that the Riders gallop from Edoras, Aragorn, Amdiriel, Legolas, Gimli, Theoden, and Eomer leading them as they would soon meet their fate.