Second Chance Chapter forty nine, a lord of the rings fanfic

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

As tradition demanded, Eldarion and Thélithil were betrothed for a year before taking their vows. The date had been set for the middle of August 47, giving the seamstresses an idea of what colours to make Eldarion's tunic and leggings along with Thélithil's dress. Eventually it was decided that Eldarion would wear a short-sleeved jade green crushed-velvet tunic, which had a silver rendition of his culture tattoo traced on to the material, along with a pale blue cloak, a pair of liquorice black leggings and mid-shin high tan boots while Thélithil would wear a white silk/satin, ankle length dress with red rose flowers painstakingly sewn on to the material, and the sleeves billowing out at the elbows. Thélithil, who was still not completely used to having an army of servants prepared to hurry to your beck-and-call, had tried to help with the dressmaking only to be chased from the premises by a very territorial head seamstress.

Thélithil was a hit with many people, especially the Gondorian soldiers who, in between flirting outrageously with the future Princess, thanked her for making a smile become a permanent fixture on their Captain-General's face. Haldir too had been impressed with Eldarion's choice of bride while Elrohir had griped about the fact that he felt old now that his nephew and two of his nieces had either started their own families, or were on the verge of doing so. He took his revenge by dramatically reminiscing on the variety of misadventures and pranks Eldarion had experienced as a child, much to Eldarion's embarrassment and Thélithil's amusement. The Rohirric royal family had offered their congratulations, and Elfwine had grumbled about the fact that Eldarion always managed to take the giant steps in his life first despite the fact that he was the youngest of their trio.

Faerveren had arrived from Annúminas, complete with husband, two sons and guard of ten, in the spring of 47 and had immediately been drawn into the wedding planning by Arwen and Imlosiel. Such an arrangement meant that she could learn all about her prospective sister-by-law before the wedding. Arndír and Lómion were instantly taken with Thélithil while majority of the guard were appreciative of the maiden's charm and grace. Faerveren had also insisted that Arahael, Alam and Hinluin accompany her to Minas Tirith, a motion that was supported wholeheartedly by Tarcil, who also accompanied the party. While Tarcil and Hinluin hit it off with Thélithil, their still grieving siblings took a while to warm to Thélithil. The maiden managed to breakdown Alam's walls with a little difficulty, the mute ranger being as stubborn as an donkey when he chose to be, but eventually her natural charisma had Alam smiling again, much to Hinluin's joy.

Arahael however was not so accepting though he had manners enough not to take his frustration out on Thélithil. Eldarion bore the brunt of most of his verbal attacks, though with an ever declining level of patience until they actually ended up in a sparring match which resembled more of a battle clash during May. The fight, while not earning Eldarion any favours from his father, had caused Arahael to finally cave and begin to heal. By the beginning of July, Arahael was on friendly terms with Thélithil and was looking forward to the wedding.

Of course, there are two sides to every coin and a small selection of people made it their mission to make Thélithil's life in Minas Tirith a misery. Rodwen in particular was quite vicious in her attempts.

"Of course, this is only a passing fancy of his Highness. Marriage is not as sacred a union as it once was and after you have borne him his son you will be tossed by the wayside," she informed Thélithil, coming across the bride-to-be sitting in the sunroom. "But it is debatable as to whether you can perform that service for him."

"Children would be a delightful addition to our union but they are not essential," said Thélithil, glancing up from the parchment she was writing on. One thing she was sorely lacking as a farmer's daughter was literacy skills. In the early months of their relationship, she had expressed her worry that such deficiencies would mean her to become a burden to Eldarion. The Prince immediately offered to teach her how to read and write, the same way he had Faerveren and Hinluin. Thélithil had accepted and over the following months, she was regularly seen with a book in hand or at a desk, scraps of parchment and spent quills littering the surface as she determinedly learnt the lessons she was taught.

"Is that what you think?" giggled Rodwen, watching with some joy as Thélithil clumsily manipulated the quill in her hand to copy the prose Eldarion had left her with. It didn't help that her left hand appeared to be her dominant hand which led to the ink smudging as she wrote. However, with Eldarion also being left-handed and being able to wield a pen with the same skill as he did his weapons, she held on to the hope that practice was all that was needed.

"Wake up farm maid, children are the only reason the Prince is marrying you!"

"He has had an heir for the past eight-and-a-half years," said Thélithil, not rising to Rodwen's bait, and turning her attention back to her work, muttering as she once again caught the ink of the previously written words. Seeing that her tormenting was not having the desired effect, Rodwen changed attack position.

"A man expects his wife to read to him when he has had an exhausting day. How are you supposed to do that when you barely read a child's storybook? They enjoy it when they find snippets of poetry or declarations of love hidden within their clothes or papers. You can barely put two letters together without making them illegible!" she said, settling herself down in the cushioned seat opposite Thélithil.

"If you are such an expert, why are you not already married?" asked Thélithil, slowly tracing the graceful Sindarin characters of the prose on to the page in front of her.

"I am trying!" hissed Rodwen. "But you took my husband away from me! What Lord Eldarion sees in your sun-spoiled skin, work-coarse hands and shabby cloths I do not know, but mark my words his infatuations will not last long."

"What would he see in your milksop skin, hands that would break if they did anything more than strenuous than lifting a fork and dresses that would easily feed a starving family for a month should they be sold?" replied Thélithil. Rodwen seemed to have forgotten that she had grown up fighting for attention and was perfectly capable of giving as good as she got when it came to confrontation, be it verbal or physical.

"The perfect wife and mother to his heir," replied Rodwen, resting delicately against the back of the chair, carelessly checking her nails of one hand, the other resting provocatively on her abdomen, in the same manner as some mothers do when checking to see if their child was still safe and growing. Thélithil blinked, the statement and Rodwen's body language slamming home the doubts about her worth as Eldarion's affianced that still lingered in her mind.

"Then you would already be married," she said in as neutral tone as she could, while inside she was screaming. Calmly she replaced the lid of her ink well and stored it away with the prose, parchment and quills neatly in a drawer. Gathering her skirts, she walked calmly out of the sun-room, Rodwen's words and actions clouding her mind. As such she collided with a solid body.

"Excuse me," she said, not looking up at the person she had walked into and made to step around them.

"Lady Thélithil?" asked the person, as they caught her shoulders so as to steady her. Thélithil looked up and found herself facing Haldir, who had been walking along the corridor deep in conversation with Elboron.

"I am no lady," she said, shrugging off Haldir's grip.

"Of course you are," smiled Haldir. "And you are also troubled. What is wrong?"

"This marriage is wrong," replied Thélithil. "I am sorry to have raised everyone's hopes but I cannot be the bride that everyone is looking for or the one that Lord Eldarion deserves."

Elboron opened his mouth to say something but Haldir shook his head. Taking Thélithil's arm and looping it through his own, Haldir led her in the direction of the Courtyard of the Fountain. Elboron followed, confusion written across his face.

"You were happy when I saw you at breakfast," Haldir said as he persuaded Thélithil is sit beside the fountain in the centre of the courtyard before going to his heels in front of her. "What has happened?"

"I am only a lowly farm girl, what can I offer the second most powerful man in the world?" asked the maid, subconsciously scrubbing at the ink stains on her left hand.

"What you have already given him," replied Elboron, as Haldir took hold of Thélithil's hands so as to stop her action.

"You will only give yourself a burn if you continue that," he murmured.

"Apparently the Lady Rodwen has given him what he truly desires," murmured Thélithil. Elboron chuckled which only added to Thélithil's confused emotions and Haldir to glare at him.

'Elboron you are not helping!' hissed the Elf.

"Peace Haldir," said Elboron sobering slightly. "Rodwen has been trying to gain Eldarion's romantic favour since he was thirty-four and Eldarion has rebuffed her at every turn. Thélithil, I have never seen Eldarion so happy and he is not prone to depression. It is you that has caused that. What is it Rodwen is supposed to have given him?"

"A child. An heir," whispered Thélithil. Elboron's eyes went wide in shock while Haldir shook his head.

"Eldarion is of Elven blood and holds to our beliefs strongly. He would not lay with someone out with the union of marriage," he said. "If Rodwen is with child, which I strongly doubt, Eldarion is not the father. You alone will give him that gift."

Thélithil smiled gently at the Elf. "You sound like the King," she said.

"We both had the same mentor," replied Haldir. "Now, why don't you go wash your hands, and your nose, and find your betrothed while Elboron and myself go and have a few words with a certain maiden."

"You don't have to," began Thélithil. Haldir continued to smile.

"The one thing you will find with Eldarion's family, Elven and mortal, blood and honouree, is that we look out for each other," Elboron said as Haldir helped Thélithil to her feet. "An insult to one of us, is an insult to all."

After her tormenting of Thélithil only resulted in Eldarion's family rallying around the bride-to-be, Rodwen's protests became quieter. Anyone else would have been concerned by the sudden change, indeed Hinluin and Díorn made it their mission to keep an eye on Rodwen, but Eldarion and Thélithil had more important things to worry about than the thoughts and feelings of one spoilt court maid for by the time of the royal wedding Rodwen was alone in her protestations. It did not mean that some of the maidens who Eldarion had rejected did not continue to be jealous of Thélithil, but eventually they came to realise that they were selling themselves short if they continued to hanker after affections that simply were not in the offering.

"Eldarion, if you continue to flatten that collar you will ruin the material!" exclaimed Elboron as he caught Eldarion's hands which had been moving between the collar of his tunic to the sword at his side for the past ten minutes.

"I can't help it," replied Eldarion as he tried to free his hands so that he could start fidgeting again. Elboron couldn't help but laugh at his friend's predicament. Eldarion scowled at him.

"You have no reason to be nervous," soothed Elboron, releasing one of Eldarion's hands so that he could cup the back of younger man's head and bring their foreheads together. "This the moment that you have dreamt of for the last eighteen months at least."

"You won't let it change anything between us?" asked Eldarion, almost begging with Elboron to say no.

"Eldarion, you moved to the opposite side of the world and still we were able to pick up exactly where we left off when we met again," smiled Elboron. "Nothing will change our relationship, and I will defy anyone, the Valar and Eru included, if they dare try such."

"Thank you," smiled Eldarion and wrapped his arms around his friend's shoulders, feeling the embrace returned.

"The cub has finally become a lion," Elboron murmured, gently kissing Eldarion's temple, only breaking the embrace when a knock sounded at the door and Aragorn poked his head into the room.

"Everything is ready," he said. "All we are waiting for are the bride and groom."

Eldarion stood before his father and Faramir who were the officials of the ceremony, with Elboron and Díorn to his right acting as his groomsmen and Arndír who was his page boy, on the steps which led to the Throne, trying desperately to calm his rapid pulse. Around them in a semi-circle guard of honour stood six on the 'silver and blacks', Peregrine Took having been formally recalled back to Minas Tirith so that he could be part of the ceremony, along with six Dúnedain rangers. Elboron and Díorn couldn't help but smile at his nervousness which was not helping the Prince in the slightest.

A sigh of appreciation signalled the entrance of the bridal party and Eldarion swung on his heel. Alphwen and Gwenel were first in the procession, dressed in a pale lilac. Their jet hair was twisted in a single braid down their backs. Imlosiel, who was acting as Thélithil's maid of honour, was next. She too was dressed in lilac, but her hair was loose about her shoulders save for two tresses which were held away from her face in braids. Faerveren was not acting as a bridesmaid, instead sitting with Arwen and Haldir, but her youngest was certainly included in the bridal party, much to four-year-old Lómion's delight as he had been given the special task of being ring-bearer. He tottered down the aisle just before the bride, the tip of his tongue poking out slightly as he carefully balanced the red velvet cushion before him.

Eldarion's breathing hitched as he caught sight of his bride and Díorn's grin grew, if it were possible, wider.

Thélithil moved down the aisle with one arm looped through her father's and in her other hand she clutched a bouquet of summer flowers entwines with early shorn wheat and barely. Her chestnut hair was bright with health, the wheat-gold highlights shone in the sunlight that filtered into the room and adorned with a skilfully wrought wreath of flowers and cereal. She was beaming with delight and Eldarion found himself echoing the gesture, both smiles becoming brighter with each step Thélithil took towards the steps.

Beldír kissed his daughter on the cheek before placing her hand in Eldarion's and moving to sit beside his wife and sons. Aragorn smiled at the young couple as they turned to face him, the guard closing behind them, before raising his voice to address the gathered guests.

The ceremony could not have run smoother had the seamstresses found a way to drench the whole lot in starch and run it over with a heated flat-iron. Vows were exchanged as were rings, little Lómion beaming with pride as he held the velvet cushion up first to Eldarion and then Thélithil. As Aragorn pronounced the couple man and wife, the guests cheered and applauded so much so that the phrase you may kiss the bride was lost to the din which increased as Eldarion did indeed press a kiss, which was as passionate as their public location would allow, to Thélithil's lips.

There followed a blessing under the sun with Beldír acting as overseer, held beneath a decorated arch in the gardens of the late Lady Finduilas, as was the tradition among the farming community of Gondor, and Haldir bestowed the Elven blessing upon the union. Dancing and feasting were then in order. This led to the bride and groom, after their initial dance, being parted from each other by the tidal wave of people who wanted to dance with either, or both, of them.

That night, as Eldarion and Thélithil retired to their chambers for the first time as man and wife, a Mithril figure stood in the shadowy corridor, a gentle smile on their face. Eldarion had crossed another obstacle on the path that was his life and yes, in time there would be more, but when it came time to face the next he would be stronger for he would face it with both his twin and mate by his side. Outside, in the gardens of Minas Tirith, a fox barked and from the forest of Ithilien came the answering cry.

With the rising of the moon and the stars, one chapter of Eldarion's life ended and a new one began.

Finale

I would like to take this moment to thank everyone who has read this tale and to all of you who reviewed (Trish, CapriceAnn Hadican-Kocur;Chevalliata;Kamui Gaia 07;ladyofimladris44;Hel5gen;Nolitari; Sarah; Elenorgand Cute Little Legolas.)

I would especially like to thank; IWishSan, Haldir's Heart and SoulAngel of the Night Watchers, Hazlesilver and The Lady of Light. Without your encouragement, support and helpful nit-picks this 'epic' simply wouldn't have happened.

On a slightly more depressing note, I am going into hiatus for the next month or so. I already have plans to expand on the year that Eldarion spent in Annúminas following his misadventures in Rohan, and possibly the year he spent in Umbar, but if you have any ideas for other projects you would like me to attempt let me know. Either send me a review, message using the link on my profile or send me an email. Again the address came be found on my home page.

Nan lû i agovaded vîn

10/02/2006