Chapter 22
Tally had a long soak in the bath, making sure she was completely clean and then washed her hair. Tally moisturised her skin with a special herb mix so she'd smell of flowers and then brushed her hair dry, curling the ends over and making sure it was shiny. She would be leaving it down for the ceremony. Malia came straight from Legolas' feast with her dress. Tally hadn't seen it yet. It was beautiful. It was mainly sky blue with pearls on the bodice and then a long rain behind her, but she noticed that as she moved about the colour of the material flashed different colours of the rainbow. Tally sat about in a simple robe getting finally dry while she read through the lines Gandalf had taught her. She had to know them word perfect and she begged Malia to test her, but she refused, Tally had been bothering her all week with bits of paper for her to read. Frustrated, Tally began to read through her speech. Only Gandalf knew its content. Tally didn't want to be up there talking for long, but she supposed she'd have to get used to it., after all she'd have to be making speeches from now on.
Tally did her make up five times until it was just perfect, then she put on her dress and finished brushing her hair. Legolas' necklace was round her neck as it was twenty four hours a day. She found the pair of blue elf slippers made in the same colour as her dress. It too had pearls on them. It was time to go. Tally was so nervous she was shaking. Malia squeezed her hand and led her out into the corridor. There her escort of her fellow people stood to escort their future queen to her coronation. Tally's ceremony was also to take place outside, but not in the wood, but on the meadow by the stream the Sanctuary got all it's water from. There were arches of flowers for her to walk through to the platform which was inside a small gazebo. The coronation was to be conducted by descendants of the Stewards of Gondor. There were three and each had pledges to demand of Tally and she had to give the correct response. She didn't notice the crowd of people all watching her, she was too busy concentrating on her words. Had she looked she would have seen all her friends looking at her with the utmost admiration and respect at her bravery and the change that had come over her in the past dew months. She wasn't the scared girl unsure of her destiny, she was queen of a great many people able to hold up conversations with Elf or Men and she had mastered their language to such and extent that she barely needed to ask for the translations of English.
Once she had satisfied the three Stewards that she would be loyal to Gondor and protect her people, she was presented to her people and crowned. The crown was magnificent. Small and petite, it was used for all the female rulers. Tally felt the history in it as it was placed on her head and she was presented to the people as 'Natalia, Queen of Gondor, ruler of all its people and protector of everyone dwelling within her borders'. Relief flooded through her, she'd survived the ceremony.
Tally was escorted back into the house and she took centre seat at the high table for dinner. There was a buzz about the building which she'd never felt before, everyone was excited about the coming evening. There would be much dancing and singing and general merriment and Elrond had given orders that no money be spared. The feast would be as lavish as could be.
Tally had Legolas on her right and Elrond on her left. Legolas leant over and kissed her cheek. He poured her a glass of wine to settle her nerves, Tally was still shaking. She smiled gratefully at him and turned to thank Elrond for the evening,
"Lord Elrond, thank you so much for all of this. I am so grateful. This has certainly been a memorable day. I am never going to forget this and your kindness to me since I came here," she reached forward and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you."
"You are quite welcome. It has been an honour to be of service once again to the kingdom of Gondor. I suggest you eat, you will need your energy tonight. Your speech is soon Natalia."
"Please don't remind me, I think I am going to forget how to speak the moment I stand up!"
"You will do fine."
Tally began to eat some food. It was magnificent. She had never tasted elven food like it, so rich and creamy. Delicious, she thought. She snuck a look at Legolas next to her, he still wore his coronation clothes. He does look amazing she thought. Legolas turned to look at Tally, and she looked away embarrassed,
"What is it, Natalia?" he'd caught her and she blushed,
"I'm sorry. I was just thinking how lucky I am to have you. And how beautiful you look." She looked at her hands, still blushing. Legolas took hold of one of her hands and rubbed his thumb over it,
"It is I who is lucky, Tally. Look dessert is here. It's your favourite." Tally smelt it before she saw it - chocolate pudding. She was in ecstasy. However, she controlled herself and remembered not to spill any down her dress and be careful not to get any round her mouth. She moaned in delight with every mouthful. Legolas leaned over, "How come you don't make those noises for me?"
"My dear King, there is nothing which gives me greater pleasure than chocolate pudding. Nothing."
"Hmm well we'll have to see about that."
Tally finished her dessert and waited till the plates were all cleared. She stood up and the Hall just went silent. Tally had her speech written down on a piece of paper and she cleared her throat and said,
"Good evening everyone. Wow, what a day. Erm before I make this speech there are just a few people I'd like to say thank you to. Firstly to Lord Elrond and Gandalf for being so patient with me over the past months and being the best teachers a girl could ever need. Secondly to everyone who has been helping me learn to ride or to fight or teach me a new word, I am infinitely grateful for your help and you will never know how much your kindness has meant to me. Finally, I would like to say thank you to Legolas for all his support through some tough times. He has truly been my rock and knight in shining armour," she looked at him and smiled, "Thank you." She paused briefly, "Now onto the speech.
"I stand before you as a baby compared to the number of years you have all been on this Earth. I came here not knowing who I truly was, searching for my place in this world and I found it, albeit in not ideal circumstances. However, I am proud to stand here before you as Queen to some of you, but I hope a friend to all of you. There are dark times ahead, but no matter what the Enemy throws at us, there are some things weapons cannot break. These are friendship and love. While these stand, we cannot be broken. So I urge you all now to take a good look at your lives and see what goodness we have to lose if we let these things fall. We must stand together now, united once more against the Dark. There is a saying I grew up knowing, it seems appropriate now, united we stand, divided we fall. I pray we remember that, even when hope seems to fade into despair, because as long as we believe that something can happen, it can. Thank you." Tally sat down.
There was silence in the Hall. Tally knew she'd offended the people around her. She'd have to leave, she'd made a fool of herself and angered Elrond. But to her surprise, the Hall burst into applause. People began to stand up to show her their support, still clapping and cheering. Tally went a bright red colour and couldn't look up. Legolas made her stand up again and all Tally could mutter were a few words of thanks and a shy smile. When the noise had died down and the normal hum returned to the hall, Legolas stood up,
"There is just one more thing that I would like to say. Natalia has spoken about how much we have helped her, but I must also say something about how much she has helped us, well me really. Over the past six months she has shown me beauty that still catches my breath each time I look at her. She has told me stories of a world many of us will never see and she speaks with such passion about it. She has a light in her eyes, which shines brighter than the light of the sun to me, and I love her. There is only one more thing I have to ask of her, for she has done everything else that I have ever asked. Tally," he said and turned to her. He got down on one knee, "please do me the honour of being my wife." There was a unison gasp from the assembled people. Tally hid her face in her hands, "Tally, I love you so much. Will you marry me?" and he took her hands away from her face. There were tears in her eyes, but a smile on her lips.
"Yes," she smiled nodding at him, he smiled back, "Yes, I'd be honoured to be your wife." She kissed him long and slow. The shouts of joy were deafening. They whispered their love to each other as Tally hugged him tight to her, "I don't want to let go," she told him, "I'm scared you'll go away and I'll wake up from this dream!"
"Tally, I will never ever leave you, now please let me go, my legs are going to sleep." Legolas sat back down on his chair, still holding her hand. They accepted congratulations from everyone around them. Tally was beaming, so happy she could hardly speak. Gandalf had a half smile on his face and Elrond turned to them and said,
"Congratulations. I know you two will be very happy. You have a special kind of love which is rare and special. I am overjoyed for you both. There is now another reason to celebrate. Come let the dancing start!" The tables were cleared away and everyone started to dance.
Tally was intoxicated with the entire day and was caught up in a whirl of dancing and singing. She'd never laughed so much as she allowed herself to be swung around in circles by Legolas and a few other elves as she joined in a quick dance were everyone rapidly switched partners. There was much confusion as people forgot who they were meant to be dancing with next. Everyone offered her their congratulations and wishes of happiness as they passed her or danced with her for a bit.
After that number was over, Tally was too exhausted to carry on so she and Legolas went to sit at the side, watching everyone else in the room. Tally pointed out Ghilad dancing with Kaelira on the other side of the hall, both of them looking dreamily at each other, "Come on, let's go for a walk," Legolas suggested.
Tally had a long soak in the bath, making sure she was completely clean and then washed her hair. Tally moisturised her skin with a special herb mix so she'd smell of flowers and then brushed her hair dry, curling the ends over and making sure it was shiny. She would be leaving it down for the ceremony. Malia came straight from Legolas' feast with her dress. Tally hadn't seen it yet. It was beautiful. It was mainly sky blue with pearls on the bodice and then a long rain behind her, but she noticed that as she moved about the colour of the material flashed different colours of the rainbow. Tally sat about in a simple robe getting finally dry while she read through the lines Gandalf had taught her. She had to know them word perfect and she begged Malia to test her, but she refused, Tally had been bothering her all week with bits of paper for her to read. Frustrated, Tally began to read through her speech. Only Gandalf knew its content. Tally didn't want to be up there talking for long, but she supposed she'd have to get used to it., after all she'd have to be making speeches from now on.
Tally did her make up five times until it was just perfect, then she put on her dress and finished brushing her hair. Legolas' necklace was round her neck as it was twenty four hours a day. She found the pair of blue elf slippers made in the same colour as her dress. It too had pearls on them. It was time to go. Tally was so nervous she was shaking. Malia squeezed her hand and led her out into the corridor. There her escort of her fellow people stood to escort their future queen to her coronation. Tally's ceremony was also to take place outside, but not in the wood, but on the meadow by the stream the Sanctuary got all it's water from. There were arches of flowers for her to walk through to the platform which was inside a small gazebo. The coronation was to be conducted by descendants of the Stewards of Gondor. There were three and each had pledges to demand of Tally and she had to give the correct response. She didn't notice the crowd of people all watching her, she was too busy concentrating on her words. Had she looked she would have seen all her friends looking at her with the utmost admiration and respect at her bravery and the change that had come over her in the past dew months. She wasn't the scared girl unsure of her destiny, she was queen of a great many people able to hold up conversations with Elf or Men and she had mastered their language to such and extent that she barely needed to ask for the translations of English.
Once she had satisfied the three Stewards that she would be loyal to Gondor and protect her people, she was presented to her people and crowned. The crown was magnificent. Small and petite, it was used for all the female rulers. Tally felt the history in it as it was placed on her head and she was presented to the people as 'Natalia, Queen of Gondor, ruler of all its people and protector of everyone dwelling within her borders'. Relief flooded through her, she'd survived the ceremony.
Tally was escorted back into the house and she took centre seat at the high table for dinner. There was a buzz about the building which she'd never felt before, everyone was excited about the coming evening. There would be much dancing and singing and general merriment and Elrond had given orders that no money be spared. The feast would be as lavish as could be.
Tally had Legolas on her right and Elrond on her left. Legolas leant over and kissed her cheek. He poured her a glass of wine to settle her nerves, Tally was still shaking. She smiled gratefully at him and turned to thank Elrond for the evening,
"Lord Elrond, thank you so much for all of this. I am so grateful. This has certainly been a memorable day. I am never going to forget this and your kindness to me since I came here," she reached forward and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you."
"You are quite welcome. It has been an honour to be of service once again to the kingdom of Gondor. I suggest you eat, you will need your energy tonight. Your speech is soon Natalia."
"Please don't remind me, I think I am going to forget how to speak the moment I stand up!"
"You will do fine."
Tally began to eat some food. It was magnificent. She had never tasted elven food like it, so rich and creamy. Delicious, she thought. She snuck a look at Legolas next to her, he still wore his coronation clothes. He does look amazing she thought. Legolas turned to look at Tally, and she looked away embarrassed,
"What is it, Natalia?" he'd caught her and she blushed,
"I'm sorry. I was just thinking how lucky I am to have you. And how beautiful you look." She looked at her hands, still blushing. Legolas took hold of one of her hands and rubbed his thumb over it,
"It is I who is lucky, Tally. Look dessert is here. It's your favourite." Tally smelt it before she saw it - chocolate pudding. She was in ecstasy. However, she controlled herself and remembered not to spill any down her dress and be careful not to get any round her mouth. She moaned in delight with every mouthful. Legolas leaned over, "How come you don't make those noises for me?"
"My dear King, there is nothing which gives me greater pleasure than chocolate pudding. Nothing."
"Hmm well we'll have to see about that."
Tally finished her dessert and waited till the plates were all cleared. She stood up and the Hall just went silent. Tally had her speech written down on a piece of paper and she cleared her throat and said,
"Good evening everyone. Wow, what a day. Erm before I make this speech there are just a few people I'd like to say thank you to. Firstly to Lord Elrond and Gandalf for being so patient with me over the past months and being the best teachers a girl could ever need. Secondly to everyone who has been helping me learn to ride or to fight or teach me a new word, I am infinitely grateful for your help and you will never know how much your kindness has meant to me. Finally, I would like to say thank you to Legolas for all his support through some tough times. He has truly been my rock and knight in shining armour," she looked at him and smiled, "Thank you." She paused briefly, "Now onto the speech.
"I stand before you as a baby compared to the number of years you have all been on this Earth. I came here not knowing who I truly was, searching for my place in this world and I found it, albeit in not ideal circumstances. However, I am proud to stand here before you as Queen to some of you, but I hope a friend to all of you. There are dark times ahead, but no matter what the Enemy throws at us, there are some things weapons cannot break. These are friendship and love. While these stand, we cannot be broken. So I urge you all now to take a good look at your lives and see what goodness we have to lose if we let these things fall. We must stand together now, united once more against the Dark. There is a saying I grew up knowing, it seems appropriate now, united we stand, divided we fall. I pray we remember that, even when hope seems to fade into despair, because as long as we believe that something can happen, it can. Thank you." Tally sat down.
There was silence in the Hall. Tally knew she'd offended the people around her. She'd have to leave, she'd made a fool of herself and angered Elrond. But to her surprise, the Hall burst into applause. People began to stand up to show her their support, still clapping and cheering. Tally went a bright red colour and couldn't look up. Legolas made her stand up again and all Tally could mutter were a few words of thanks and a shy smile. When the noise had died down and the normal hum returned to the hall, Legolas stood up,
"There is just one more thing that I would like to say. Natalia has spoken about how much we have helped her, but I must also say something about how much she has helped us, well me really. Over the past six months she has shown me beauty that still catches my breath each time I look at her. She has told me stories of a world many of us will never see and she speaks with such passion about it. She has a light in her eyes, which shines brighter than the light of the sun to me, and I love her. There is only one more thing I have to ask of her, for she has done everything else that I have ever asked. Tally," he said and turned to her. He got down on one knee, "please do me the honour of being my wife." There was a unison gasp from the assembled people. Tally hid her face in her hands, "Tally, I love you so much. Will you marry me?" and he took her hands away from her face. There were tears in her eyes, but a smile on her lips.
"Yes," she smiled nodding at him, he smiled back, "Yes, I'd be honoured to be your wife." She kissed him long and slow. The shouts of joy were deafening. They whispered their love to each other as Tally hugged him tight to her, "I don't want to let go," she told him, "I'm scared you'll go away and I'll wake up from this dream!"
"Tally, I will never ever leave you, now please let me go, my legs are going to sleep." Legolas sat back down on his chair, still holding her hand. They accepted congratulations from everyone around them. Tally was beaming, so happy she could hardly speak. Gandalf had a half smile on his face and Elrond turned to them and said,
"Congratulations. I know you two will be very happy. You have a special kind of love which is rare and special. I am overjoyed for you both. There is now another reason to celebrate. Come let the dancing start!" The tables were cleared away and everyone started to dance.
Tally was intoxicated with the entire day and was caught up in a whirl of dancing and singing. She'd never laughed so much as she allowed herself to be swung around in circles by Legolas and a few other elves as she joined in a quick dance were everyone rapidly switched partners. There was much confusion as people forgot who they were meant to be dancing with next. Everyone offered her their congratulations and wishes of happiness as they passed her or danced with her for a bit.
After that number was over, Tally was too exhausted to carry on so she and Legolas went to sit at the side, watching everyone else in the room. Tally pointed out Ghilad dancing with Kaelira on the other side of the hall, both of them looking dreamily at each other, "Come on, let's go for a walk," Legolas suggested.
