Plans into action
Early days of July 3018, near Helm's Deep:
As far as everything looked, Rohan was ready for the war against Mordor. The news from Gondor about Sauron attacking Osgilliath and taking its eastern side, was alarming for the royal family. Lothíriel, who had arrived with her husband for an informal family meeting, was scared by how close her cousins had come to death.
"It is true that Bormir and Faramir have some male cousins from their aunts, but people in Gondor would still be horrified if they both died…"
Even Elia felt some form of unease over it all.
"I do not like this. It may have been Gondor first, but it is not impossible that Rohan will be attacked soon. And there is also the problem of how silent Saruman has been…"
Under her years in Rohan so far Elia had never met the White Wizard, the head of the Istari as Gandalf called Saruman, but as he lived in Isengard, it felt strange that he had not even sent a message to the royal court in Edoras. Did he fear the growing power of Sauron to the point of not wanting to get involved at all, were she a little too paranoid given her trauma from the end of Robert's Rebellion or had something happened inside the tower of Orthanc that they were unaware of?
"You have a point about Saruman, but somehow I have a bad feeling about coming to Isengard and openly demand him to act…."
Théodred looked past his wife, and then smiled at seeing a familiar figure coming riding.
"Boromir!"
"Cousin!"
His arrival was a welcomed distraction for now.
As they shared an evening meal around the campfire, Morwen sitting closer to the heat because her hip was acting up again, Boromir told them of what Denethor had tasked him with. Somehow, it did not seem like a surprise that his father wanted the oldest son to go north, even without the secret betrothal between Faramir and Éowyn, it was clear that the Steward wanted his firstborn to once again have all the glory.
"It must be the One Ring, right?" Aegon wondered in the middle of whatever he was doing with his hands, "but where could it have been, under all those years? Hidden deep in the same spot into the river bank seems a little odd, given how strong the currents of Anduin is."
While the Rings of Power seemed to be something uniquely to the world of Arda, Westeros and their world also had legends and myths about magical items that could be used for either good or evil.
"But I must say, it is a rather clever plan, originally. Who would imagine a random ring as a powerful artifact of wickedness? Something that could easily blend in among a jewelry collection and the sort," Rhaenys commented, letting Andréth finish the branding of her hair as a sign of their bond as sisters. On the other hand. Aégnor was less successful in taming his own hair that had escaped his braids from the morning.
"Sitt still, Aégnor."
As he helped the young Prince of Rohan with the braids, Éomer noticed that Lothíriel made a face at tasting an apple as a simple dessert after the meal.
"It could be that I am used to more sweet apples down at the coast where I grew up, but is this apple awfully sour?"
Before her husband could do such a confirmation himself, the royal twins of Rohan grabbed the apple and tasted on both sides of the bite she had left.
"No."
"Tastes normal for a summer apple."
But Elia, who had undergone three pregnancies herself and knew a lot of women that were fellow mothers, as well Morwen with her own five successful childbirths, had a different guess to why the younger woman may find certain foods not tasting as before.
"Here, Firefoot, a treat from me," Lothíriel said in a voice that clearly hinted to that this was not the first apple she had found tasting sour, giving the half-eaten apple to the large grey stallion owned by her husband, who protested in a joking manner:
"Hey, do not spoil my warhorse and your own gelding with apples all the time, honey!"
Perhaps Éomer was not openly admitting what Elia personally thought, but the very likelihood of Lothíriel being in the early stages of pregnancy was not all weird. Both of them belonged to fertile families that had successfully raised children to adulthood, and with her being only eight years younger than him, she would be in a perfectly normal age, by the standards of Rohan, to have her first child soon.
"Young Boromir," Morwen leaned a little closer for a whisper, "try to return home in around seven months unless you want to miss an important family event."
Confused over the riddle which the now former Queen Mother seemed to give him, understandable as he had never shown interest in women as well that he was only five years older than Faramir with no other younger siblings, it was clear that Boromir did not catch her hint to try and come back to Rohan in time to meet his younger cousin's first child if the birth went well.
When Boromir would leave the following morning, Aegon came up to him.
"If you do not mind, would you want a protection amulet? Both for a safe journey and to avoid bad influence?"
Despite his youth, Boromir had stopped to doubt whatever Aegon may try to warn him about. The One Ring was a part of Sauron after all, and he knew how Isildur had died as a result of that damn thing. It would not be too strange if the soul-piece of Sauron inside the Ring would prey on the hidden insecurity that even confident people had somewhere deep inside their minds and try to temper them with false promises.
"Can not hurt, I suppose. What sort of protection amulet is it, anyway?"
Aegon held out a simple brooch, the sort to pin a cloak with and made in plain copper, with the spear and sun of House Martell engraved.
"Rhaenys and I have tried our best to infuse a protection spell into it, so that if the One Ring tries to mess with your mind when you are around that damn thing, you will instead be reminded of what is important for you."
Well, the two siblings clearly had honest intentions about using magic on an everyday item that he would be needing on this journey anyway, so Boromir accepted the brooch from the oldest son of Elia and switched out his old one to this new one with the protection spell.
"Send one for my brother too, if you and Rhaenys don't mind doing a little extra work. I want Faramir and his eventual children as my heirs, not out of selfishness but because I want to see my little brother happy married with a family of his own."
Aegon nodded, understanding that Boromir was worried that something could happen to Faramir in his absence before he returned to Gondor from this journey. Both the sons of the Stewards were adults since many years back, but some things never changed in a sibling relationship.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Sunspear, the Old Palace:
Given that Arianne and Daemon had married the day after the ceremony where Doran had crowned her as the new Ruling Princess while he abdicated from his role as the ruler of Dorne on the grounds of the injury from King's Landing a few years ago, it was only normal that people hoped that she soon would have her first child as well.
"A grandchild! We are going to get our first grandchild!" Mellario actually almost shouted in joy, pulling her two older sons around in a merry dance since Doran was seated in his wheelchair at the table and Mahaad stood beside his father.
"Yes, I am looking forward to this side of my life."
Arianne had prayed extra hard to Mother Rhoyne since the wedding that Daemon would bless her womb, and now it was confirmed by several older midwives and healers that had been in their trade for many years. Sure, it was still early, only roughly the second month yet, and she needed to be careful on signs of a possible miscarriage given how it had gone for other women in the family tree over the past five generations, but it still felt like a glimmer of hope.
"Good news for the future of our House, my dear daughter."
Picking up one of the pieces for a cyvasse set, Doran set it down on the board while also looking at a map of Middle-earth:
"Now...we need to make plans on how to help Suleiman become the Sultan after his father, the current ruler of the Sultanate of Rûm. Especially without the spies of Khamûl inside the palace noticing anything."
The hidden prince had mentioned a wish to avoid that his father and brothers died, despite it being a custom of Khamûl to leave the new Sultan the sole male of the dynasty as a manner to keep them under his control. A difficult thing to promise, indeed, but they could understand that he wanted to meet the family members he had never met face to face.
"Yes. As the new Sultan, he would be a powerful ally against Sauron since he wants to free his homeland from the Dark Lord. But if he ends up dead before becoming the Sultan...well, his young children would be without a father to protect them, and if their blood ties to the current Sultan were to be discovered at a poor timing…"
It was much to plan, and things to take in accord, indeed. But Arianne had a small plan of her own that could hopefully be used as well. Taking a quill and some ink, she began a letter to Suleiman with the latest information by writing on her arm, knowing that the magic of House Martell would allow him to read it in the same manner on his own arm without anyone seeing.
Suleiman, House Martell will hopefully have an heir or heiress from me in seven months. Shall we honor the distant family blood by a marriage between us, depending on what the next generation wants?
Arianne knew that it was a risky game, to sell an unborn son or daughter into a betrothal before they even had left her womb because there was always a chance of the intended marriage never happening for various reasons, but alliances though marriages were so important, especially in times of trouble, that sometimes it was the best choice of action.
My daughter Mihrimah for a son of yours, and one of my sons for a daughter of yours to choose between.
"Good. I am sure that Mara and Neith would be happy with their descendants uniting into a single bloodline after over 4 200 years, and in two different realms to rule over. With that many generations passing, there is no chance of inbreeding!"
With this, they could soon act.
Over at his place, Suleiman was also making plans for becoming Sultan as he saw the written words on his arm vanish, likely a result of Arianne cleaning it away. But it was not only the crown he was aiming for, he knew that the military strength of Rûm had often played an important role in previous wars.
"Soon, Father. It will not be long. I will get you and my brothers free from this killing curse before the following six full moons have passed, I promise. House Martell, the descendants of Princess Mara, have promised to help me with this in exchange for an alliance against Mordor."
Looking over his secret reports, things were going as he had planned since several years ago. Large war ships were being built in secret, a future fleet that would bring his men north to Gondor and help the Free People of Middle-earth.
"Good thing that Khamûl seems to have gone on a mission from Sauron because he was spotted leaving the Temple of Shadows not long ago. If we can get this done before he returns from wherever he is right now, we should be able to use the distance to our advantage."
Now he only needed to identify the spies inside the imperial palace, and remove them from life before taking the crown of the Sultanate. That girl which Khamûl used to perform the killing curse, would also find herself in the afterlife. Among both commoners and nobles here in Rûm, no one wanted a bride who had been tainted by the well known dark presence inside the Temple of Shadows, because they were said to be sorceresses even without having any magic and bring ill luck on anyone who married them.
"That reminds me," he realized suddenly, "I need to figure out what to do with the official Consorts and the female slaves in the Temple of Shadows, should Sauron fall in the war and all his servants with him."
Hopefully that was not something he would not need to think about yet, not until after the war, at least.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Author note: According to the timeline on the online Tolken wikis, Boromir left Minas Tirith on July 4 and it took him 110 days to reach Imladris. As he took the way through the Gap of Rohan, I wanted him to meet with the royal family for some pleasant company before heading further north.
Lothíriel is having some changes in her taste buds as a result of her pregnancy, yes, she have found herself less fond of sweet fruits like apples currently because they tastes sour in her mouth and poor Éomer tries to avoid having Firefoot associating his wife with tasty treats