Thank you so much for the nice reviews! See, I'm so easily pleased… tell me to keep writing, and I will. No happy reunion quite yet… Gandalf giving romantic advice though.
Coronation SurpriseTime passed too quickly for my taste. After the Councilors had taken it upon them to hold the Coronation Ceremony, there was no stopping. They fired up the will of the people, most still suffering from the loss of loved ones, and set out to make Minas Tirith appear as she had not appeared in hundreds of years. Though the White City still bore the obvious scars of her last battle, the debris where removed and the walls scrubbed, so that soon the city shone as though aglow from within.
Glowing from within… my heart winced. The Evenstar burned with a steady glow, and Arwen too seemed to. Everything I did or people said seemed to remind me of her. I wondered how I should ever be able to live, knowing that the one I loved would never be with me.
"I would not think that," said a wise old voice behind me, and I turned to see Gandalf the White stride over to join me where I stood at the balustrade of the balcony, and I silently tipped my head to him in acknowledgment. Gandalf commanded respect from anyone, whether king or elve or peasant, with his powerful aura. "Arwen will be with you always, and her heart will follow you to the ends of the world."
I smiled a mirthless smile, "I wish that was so."
Gandalf chose to ignore the sarcasm in my words, "If you wish it to be so, it will be so. She is strong-willed, and once she has made up her mind to do something, it takes a vice stronger than Sauron to stop her."
His words did not help me, they only cut me more. "What of Love? Is her love for her father not a stronger force than all the Armies of Mordor?"
Gandalf nodded slowly, his wise eyes staring into distances I could not comprehend. "That is so, King of Men. You finally begin to comprehend the power of love. If her love for her father is such, what do you think her love for you is?" He glanced significantly at the Evenstar balanced against my chest, "She gave you that jewel, did she not?"
I sighed, "Yes, she did."
"Then you have nothing to worry about," he looked pointedly at the sunset.
An fist of hope surrounded my chest. "What – what do you mean? Is she not sailing?
Do you know?" The iron rings that had embraced my heart when I had seen Arwen last, the time when I told her to sail West, threatened to break at the excited leaps my heart was making.
But Gandalf just hummed quietly to himself. "The Hills are particularly white this year. It has always signaled good luck for Gondor." He smiled.
It was infuriating. I knew that Gandalf would speak no more, and that I would have to wait – wait as I had done for the past weeks. Just then, the hobbits Merry and Pippin came bounding around the corner, closely followed by Sam. He was hollering something about a broken carrot. I envied him. He would be able to go home, go back to his life. I was not so sure about Merry and Pippin; they had seen too much of the world to settle back comfortably into the Shire. And Frodo – perhaps for Frodo I felt sorriest. He had saved the lives of all those who dwell in Middle Earth, and his own soul seemed destroyed for it. The glad laugh that had sprung to Gandal's lips when the three hobbits had rounded the corner and completely destroyed the solemn atmosphere died down as Frodo wandered around the corner. I tipped my head in recognition for what he had done for all of us, and excused myself, sensing that they needed to speak alone.
I wandered the corridors of Minas Tirith, thinking of what Gandalf had told me. It gave me hope, yet in a way, the hope was more painful than utter despair. I knew now that I could never marry anyone but my beloved Arwen, regardless of how my councilors prodded and cajoled me. There would always be the tantalizing thought of "What if she returns?" It seemed like she was so near me, and yet so far away.
Night fell slowly. It had seemed that time had slowed down since I spoke with Gandalf. It was no more bearable. The dinner hour came; it was the night before the Coronation and everyone was excited. I felt lost in all the hope and joy that bubbled around me; I was an island in an ocean. Pippin was speaking with me, and Eowyn and Faramir were recounting the story of some adventure they had had while riding out this day. I realized that my inattentiveness would be perceived as rude, and gave up all pretense of civility and excused myself.
I went to my bed chamber, and lay down, thinking of how empty the big bed would always be. I fell asleep, but I did not dream pleasant dream. I was chasing something, a golden light, through the depth of a wood, but it kept on evading me, until I was so deeply entwined in a jungle of leaves and branches that I could not find my way out. Suddenly, the sound of rushing water filled my ears, and the forest was washed away by a sea of ice-cold water. I felt myself drowning, closing my eyes in regret. And all along, I felt the presence of Arwen, as though she lingered behind a silver veil, and if I could only pull it away, I would see her.
I woke up gasping and the water disappeared, but the feeling of Arwen's closeness. I stood up to get a glass of water out of the pitcher that stood at the far side of the room, but was drawn to the window instead, where silver moonlight was pouring in.
A wave of loneliness overcame me. It was a night like this that reminded me most of my beloved – silver, regal, and ethereally beautiful. "Arwen…" I whispered.
And then I put my face in my hands and wept.
There. How's that? Please review.
