Chapter 14
The next morning, despite my foggy head from all the drinking, I was swept into meetings. Gamling was making every effort to see to it that I was caught up on everything, so that once I was married, I would have a little free time to spend solely with my new bride.
The ladies of both Gondor and Rohan's courts seemed to claim all of Lothiriel's free time, and I watched from a distance as she plastered on a smile and tuned out the voices hammering away at her. The men of the nobility seemed equally determined to monopolize my time, and longing glances across the room at Lothiriel appeared to be all I would be allowed. I was beginning to wonder if we would even be left alone once we were married.
With Dol Amroth and Gondor royalty in Rohan, we took the opportunity to discuss business as well, and we made much progress in our plans to improve the roads and travel routes between our major cities. I was busy and occupied, but I was also tired and tense. I wanted nothing more than for this wedding to be over, my guests to leave and my wife forever after in my arms.
As had happened the past three days, once supper ended, I was swarmed by well-wishers who sought to offer advice, warnings, guidance, personal stories and on and on. And just as before, it did not take long for my head to begin pounding and me to wish for nothing more than holding Lothiriel's hand alone in the moonlight. But she was cornered across the room, by women who seemed bent on doing much the same to her. The look on her face seemed impassive to others, but I knew her well enough to know she was merely tolerating this because she had no other choice at present.
I was beginning to think this wedding was going to kill the both of us. We had had virtually no time alone, or even to speak to one another privately, since her arrival in Edoras. Eowyn was more than willing to handle all the marriage arrangements and I was more than willing to let her, and relieve myself of that burden. But as my wedding day drew nearer, I was very unhappy. Somehow this didn't seem to be what I had expected. The wedding was in two days and I was almost dreading it – not being married to Lothiriel, mind you, just the wedding required to 'get there'.
I enviously noted Lothiriel was able to feign a headache and fatigue, and thus escape the room. But as king and host, I was not so fortunate. And so I endured.
The only bright spot of these days was breakfast, and I looked forward to it because it was one of the few meals where I was able to spend time with Lothiriel. Though not alone, we at least were in a smaller party, usually only family, and it was easier to relax. Generally we played a game of 'nudge and bump' under the table where no one could see, and though it was silly, I think it eased some of our tension over other matters.
Today I noticed that all through the meal Faramir kept glancing at Lothiriel. I wondered what the two of them were up to, as I had seen them talking together several times, and Lothiriel appeared a little frustrated and annoyed with him. But I had never managed to get her alone long enough to inquire as to the reason.
Once more I was sequestered in my study, going over reports in preparation for more meetings later that morning. Not surprisingly, Gamling put in appearance, but his words definitely caught me by surprise. He outlined some discussions he had had with Lothiriel and then mentioned new plans that had been made in my behalf, which included being gone most of the next day.
I did not get to see Lothiriel again until supper that night. I regretfully told her that I was going to have to ride out to another town on the morrow to resolve some problems there. Although it was our wedding day, the marriage itself was not to take place until early evening, followed by a feast. I said I was certain we would be back in plenty of time so there would be no delay. After having been cooped up in meetings almost incessantly for over a week, I relished the idea of being back in the saddle. And even more so because it provided a temporary respite from the wedding preparations and 'helpful' well-wishers.
Naturally, the topic of conversation that night was my trip, and I was forced to listen to endless not-particularly-related-in-any-way talees about trips that husbands or lovers had taken close to their weddings. Then there were the two camps – those who thought it dreadful that I would go on such a trip on my wedding day, and those who thought it best to get the groom out of the way for most of the day so preparations would go more smoothly.
And thus I endured another evening in the Golden Hall. At least this time, I knew that the following day Lothiriel and I were to wed and soon we would be alone together. Only thoughts of that got me through this final night. At last, it ended and I was gratefully off to my bed.
Come morning, I was up early. I knew I wouldn't be seeing Lothiriel at breakfast, since she had taken to rising as late as she could, or at least staying out of sight, to put off as long as possible the ever-present swarm that followed her everywhere. Eothain had assembled the men of my escort and we set out at a leisurely pace, taking the longest route to our destination.
When we reached the large village, it was just after midday, and we arranged for a meal, that turned out to be one of the most pleasant I had enjoyed in quite awhile. With just Eothain and the men as my companions, it was more relaxed and friendly than most of my meals the past week, and I lingered over a tankard of ale, chatting and enjoying myself.
Eothain set off to take care of my reason for being here, but there seemed to be some confusion on that point. Apparently, no word had reached them of my imminent arrival. Indeed, they were surprised to see me on my wedding day, though the townspeople were eager to stop me in the street to wish me well. When it became obvious our trip had been pointless, we remounted and started the trip back.
By then it was rather late in the afternoon and our return in time was now in question. We were further delayed when Eothain's horse had problems, and we traveled at a slower pace rather than cause injury to the animal. When it became clear we would not be back in time, we made for a secluded spot that we often had used as a campsite, where there was a large cave that was handy in the case of inclement weather.
The men all hastened to assure me that they were certain my betrothed would forgive me, and Eothain pointed out that the guests weren't leaving for a few days after the wedding anyway, so holding it the next day shouldn't prove too great a problem.
As king, I was given the cave for my quarters, while the men set up a watch around the area. And then there was nothing to do but wait. I spent some time around the campfire with the men, talking, but the tension of the wedding preparations left me tired enough to excuse myself fairly early. I retired to the cave and, not too long after, I was hailed by Elfhelm from the cave entrance.
My breath caught in my throat as he came into view, with Lothiriel beside him. Her appearance was far less elegant than I knew it would be for our wedding day tomorrow, but she was still beautiful to me. I grinned with pleasure and amusement that she had chosen to wear the pale blue dress we had teased about on more than one occasion.
Several fires had been built up to ward off the chill of the cave, and with the large number of furs placed on the floor, it was almost cozy. Lothiriel gave me a conspiratorial grin as we approached each other, and I quickly gave her a kiss.
Then looking to Elfhelm, I asked, "How is this to be done?"
Elfhelm retrieved some parchment from a pouch he carried and carefully opened the first one. He held it up where I could see and said, "First, read this."
I carefully read the words there, and then Elfhelm nodded. "Now, each of you speaks your vows to one another."
We had written lengthier vows to be spoken at our wedding in Edoras, so here we simply expressed our love and devotion to each other, and vowed to love no other. Then Elfhelm stepped back near us and placed a hand on our joined hands, and read from another scroll the words of the witness. When he finished, he gave us a grin. "And now my King...and Queen, I will take my leave of you until morning."
When he was gone, I turned back to Lothiriel and brushed a hand lightly and lovingly against her cheek. "Is it true? Are we truly married?"
"It is so, my love. We are married twice over. The 'blessing' King Elessar gave us in Gondor was actually a wedding in itself, and the ceremony we just performed makes it official in Rohan as well. We can either kill Faramir for not telling us we were wed in Gondor, or thank him for discovering that a King of Rohan can perform his own marriage as long as there is at least one witness to it."
I was clearly thinking about Faramir's fate, so she added, "You may continue considering that, my lord, or you may contemplate the fact that this is our wedding night. I would hope to occupy more of your attention tonight than Faramir does!"
That was all it took to bring my 'attention' back to her. It appeared I would have to grant Faramir a reprieve, and considering he was responsible for her being here, now, I could not hold much of a grudge. Nothing could have been done sooner or differently, even with his subterfuge, and we had been granted the joyous wedding we wanted, before suffering through the official wedding it was necessary we have. But that was tomorrow, and tonight there was only me and Lothiriel...my wife.
