Destiny's Arrow
(Into the City)
Aragorn walked alone through the streets in the morning mist. He inhaled the cool air as though it were the first breath of life. He rejoiced in the magnificence of his city. As he walked, he felt the presence of another even before he felt the hand on his shoulder. He stopped, and the loud snap of a wooden staff contacting flagstone told Aragorn it was Gandalf who followed him.
"Why do you creep up behind me like a great spider after prey, Gandalf?" Aragorn turned, half laughing, to face the wizard. Gandalf observed him stonily. Aragorn abruptly stopped laughing as though he had been struck by the sternness of the wizard's expression.
"I must speak with you this instant," Gandalf said evenly, guiding Aragorn down a deserted and narrow side street.
"What of? What has happened?" demanded Aragorn, the warrior displacing the king for the moment.
"All is well for now. You may put up your sword." Aragorn's instinct had brought his hand, already, to Andruil's hilt without his realizing it. At Gandalf's words, he released it.
"What then is so urgent that you would halt me so as I am on my way to my Lady's chambers to speak with her?" Aragorn asked. The look of suspicion that appeared on Gandalf's face at his reply stirred Aragorn's curiosity like an untimely woken serpent.
"It is of your Lady that I would speak," Gandalf answered. He paused, awaiting the king's answer.
"Speak then, but speak well of her, for I love her well and will hear no word against her," Aragorn said sharply. He was annoyed with the wizard for a reason he did not know and it troubled him. Gandalf stood patiently. "I am sorry, Gandalf. I should not have spoken angrily when I am not angry at all. I fear only that you will tell me something I will not wish to hear." Gandalf continued to survey him. "Speak," said Aragorn said at last.
"Have you lain with Arwen, Aragorn?" Gandalf asked without pretense or embarrassment. Aragorn was taken aback at the unabashed boldness of the question. Had any other man asked such a question he would likely have found a quick dagger at his throat. Gandalf simply watched patiently as Aragorn considered what he had been asked. Aragorn's gaze remained sharp when he answered presently.
"I have not," he answered slowly.
"Why not?" Gandalf asked again without even a trace of delicacy.
"Because I love her. It is the tradition of Gondor that the king lie in his wedding bed only once the queen is queen in the eyes of all," Aragorn replied indignantly.
"You, Aragorn, have never been one to stand on ceremony," said Gandalf, "Now tell me truly. Have you been to her bed?"
"I have not. And if you were any other man, there would be a knife in your throat to the hilt for your rude questions and mistrust of a trusted friend," Aragorn growled. Gandalf smiled darkly.
"Then I will take you at your word. But as I once said to another friend, be angry if you will, but soon it will be my turn to get angry, and if you threaten me again, I shall. I ask for your own good, and knowledge." Gandalf answered calmly. Aragorn regarded him incredulously.
"I have no wish to anger you, Gandalf, but I would plainly know how you come to ask such questions and then doubt me when I answer you truly," said Aragorn, his tone losing its heat. The wizard searched Aragorn's face one last time as though to be sure he spoke true before answering. Finally, he spoke.
"I ask only because two nights past, an elvish song found its way through my window as I sat in meditation. It was a song I had never heard before. A song of Beren and Luthien's love. But then, it became more plaintive. The voice, to whom it belonged I cannot say, requested, then implored to be let in. It spoke of a love that would not be broken or denied by the distance across the sea and heavens to the West, and asked for admittance once more. It was then that I thought it must not have been my window for which the song was intended," Gandalf said with a dry smile, "But from those words I could only assume that it was your voice I heard, singing to your elvin Lady at her window," Gandalf paused to watch a rapidly gathering storm shade Aragorn's brow.
"Is there anything more?" Aragorn asked stiltedly.
"There is," replied Gandalf without inflection. "Are you sure that you wish to hear it?" he asked raising a heavy brow.
"Continue," was the only answer.
"I rose at the sound of a heavy door latch coming open," Gandalf continued tonelessly. At these words Aragorn blanched. "I went to the window for a better view of the courtyard, but I had only a glimpse of a dark haired figure passing through the doorway before it was shut behind him," said Gandalf. He watched Aragorn unblinkingly for a moment. "Was it you I saw?" he asked at last.
"It was NOT…," Aragorn began, his voice rising to a thunderous volume.
"Softly!" barked the wizard, interrupting and quieting the king.
"It was not I who you saw, no," Aragorn breathed dangerously.
"Truly, now I think it was not," said Gandalf, nodding with knitted brow. "Though, now, do you see how I came to wonder?" he asked. "And to doubt?" he added pointedly.
"Yes," said Aragorn, closing his eyes resignedly. He sighed heavily, "Yes. And thank you." Aragorn looked suddenly old and haggard and weary. He caught himself against the wall behind him and sank to the ground. He sat for a long while with his elbows propped against his knees and his head in his hands. After long minutes of heavy and unbroken silence, Gandalf knelt by Aragorn. He placed a gnarled hand on the king's broad back. Aragorn's lungs filled with a shudder that felt to the wizard like a tearless sob.
"These tidings are not so foul that you should fall into despair, Aragorn," Gandalf said gently, stroking Aragorn's dark glossy head in a comforting, fatherly fashion.
"I am not in despair," said Aragorn with a trace of sullenness in his voice. "I am thinking."
"And what do you think?" the wizard asked.
"I think that I must speak with Arwen now more urgently than before," said Aragorn, rising. Once he stood to his full height he caught the wizard again with a sharp eye. "Unless there is more that I need know before I ascend that long stair." Gandalf regarded him sternly as he spoke.
"Only remember that she loves you more than eternity. And know that she has many secrets and bears them as a great burden."
"Speak. What must I know?" asked the king wearily.
"I said that Arwen has many secrets. They are hers to share or keep as she will, not mine. And I warn you, you will drive her away if you do not let her keep the ones she will," said Gandalf, his eyes never losing Aragorn's. "Mark me, Aragorn and remember what I have said," Gandalf said grimly.
"I will," answered the king with equal gravity. The pale light was not kind to his troubled features as he stepped into the waking street.
AN: Thanks for the reviews. Shall we strike a bargain since we all know how I love reviews (read: REVIEW SLUT!)? I'll update every week/5 reviews (since it's a repost). Sound good? Good! Oh! And as I said in the review I left on the page, if you want current updates, send me your e-mail address and I'll put you on my mailing list and you'll get it just as soon as I finish…not saying when that'll be, but oh well. I love you all and thank you for your support. ~DR