...

~ Reunions ~

The next morning the four companions came riding up to Golden Hall out of the Old Forest. As they approached the old man thought he caught sight of a tall bright horse in the distance, its flaxen gold coat glinting in the morning sun as it wandered by the mountain stream a ways up in the valley among a cluster of willow trees. He could not be sure what it meant, for he had guessed the lady's elf horse may have followed Shadowfax to this land, but he wondered.

Elraen was resolved to go onward to Gondor one way or another. She'd walk up to the Black Gate alone if that was the best she could come up with. But going alone to Minas Tirith might end her up in a situation not much better than the one she was in now, for the Steward there was told to be shrewd and sour and difficult to impress. And what help she could do there she was not sure of, either. But all roads in this war led to Gondor, so to there she must go.

But first, how to escape? The again imprisoned young wanderer had been awake since well before dawn, not that she could see the dawn, and pondered this a long while. The cellars were quite securely designed, and escape looked unlikely without a willing accomplice. She certainly could not try and persuade one of the wardens to disobey the king's orders on her account, and if she had any remaining companions how would they even find her here? Distress began to well up inside, and outside she could hear the muffled sounds of a grumbling thunderstorm approaching. The beleaguered little princess lay back down on the rough bed of straw, gazing at the ceiling in grief and defeat for a long while, as she thought on a long stretch of ancient memories.

*.*.*

"Here also is Valandril the sword of one of our companions, the Lady Elraen, my distant kin from the days of the downfall of Numenor," said Aragorn, pulling the short sword from wrappings of clothes and laying it near Gandalf's sword. "I bear it until I can return it to her, when I find her." The guard stared at it with wonder and cast down his gaze in uncertainty, and gestured the Ranger onward with a little bow of his head. Aragorn read the trouble on his face, and wondered, beginning to guess that they had at least seen her or had some news of her but could say no more. He went on to protest against handing over his own weapon, until at last he was persuaded to set it by the door.

"If it has Anduril and Valandril to keep it company, my axe may stay here too without shame," said the dwarf. "And with my axe is another of the young lady's weapons, wrought ages ago by my ancestors like the sword of Aragorn here," said Gimli, placing the dagger gently on the floor among the other blades. The guard was in wonder at the sight of it, too, for it seemed a precious thing more ancient than even the declarations of royal lineage he'd heard over the past couple of days.

When at last Gandalf had broken the counselor's spell over the king, the Lord of the Mark sent for his sister-son, the imprisoned Eomer. Eomer received back his sword, and when Hama left to find Grima Eomer said, "Should you like to summon the maiden of Mundburg?"

"Aye me, yes! The girl!" cried the King. He turned to the other guards and commanded, "Fetch her as well."

"The girl?" cried Gimli.

"She's here?" followed Legolas.

Aragorn let out a relieved sigh and Gandalf a little smile and a nod. "In prison?" added Aragorn.

"Yes I am afraid I have more forgiveness to seek. She arrived just last night bearing the same warning you did, but I could not be persuaded to listen," replied the king. "She has a strangeness that worked in favor of Grima. But now I see it is no more threat than any of you."

"Please bring her sword and shield if you will," he turned to command the guards, and made ready to receive the Princess as his guest this time.

*.*.*

"And we will ride with them, axe, sword, bow, and shield," said Aragorn as he explained their intent to continue.

"Shield?" asked the king. "Then the maiden as well?"

"Yes, my good king," said Gandalf. "She is fated to help the Gray Pilgrim and the returned King deliver Gondor and the free peoples of Middle-earth from the threat of Sauron. Of that much I am certain."

The king looked back at the wizard in wonder and curiosity, as his servant at last was escorted to the hall, and all turned their attention to Grima.

The servants returned with Elraen amidst the confrontation with the king's counselor, and they stopped to watch it unfold. The princess stared in shock at the sight of the familiar face, and suddenly the dream from her stay in Lorien came back to her in vivid detail, and she began to understand.

There she stood, too overcome with surprise and joy to notice much of what was said. The wizard's back was to her, but for a moment's pause he lifted his head, having noticed the sharp shift in the energy behind him.

Then she calmed, and suddenly noticed her other companions were also nearby. And she stood there smiling, looking quite out of place to anyone who may have noticed (though no one did just then).

Soon the counselor had been outcast, and the servants were now setting the table with extra places. In the meanwhile the king at last returned her sword and shield himself, complete with a bow and apologies, to the surprise of his court.

The companions took a few moments to rejoice in the reunion, and happily greeted each other in turn as they returned her things. Gimli handed her the dagger, and she took it, glad to behold its beauty again, but then a shadow of grief fell on her face as she remembered the moment she parted with it. "Boromir," she said quietly.

"Aye, lass," the dwarf replied solemnly. "'Tis a bittersweet reunion, I'm afraid."

The young princess stared at the beautiful weapon laying in her hands for a long moment. Then she looked back at the dwarf sadly in reply and sighed, and gently slipped the blade back into the little sheath hanging from her belt.

In her mind she heard a voice speak. 'Well! I am very happy to see you, Your Highness,' it said, 'but what in the Circles of the World are you doing here?'

The princess finally turned to face the old man, who had been standing by watching the reunion of his other companions. 'Mandos foresaw your doom,' she replied in silence, as she walked up to greet him with a warm embrace. 'My brother was persuaded to let me come help you. The circumstances were his idea. Not much help I've been, it turns out.'

'You have indeed,' the wizard insisted. He stepped back, and then aloud he continued, "I have something for you also," as he turned up her hand, placing in it a little silver rod. "You have helped, far more than you realize, just as I thought you would."

Elraen looked down and gasped in amazement at the fine little thing that she thought had perished in the heat of the balrog's flame, and remembered the last words of Irmo at the Council. She lifted it and it flashed in the morning light. Of course not! At last it all made sense; the moment Master Cirdan had told her about. She smiled.

"Well, in that case," she began aloud. Then with a kneel and a bow she held it out to him with both hands, "I offer the service of this wand to you, Gandalf."

None looking on were unsurprised, the old man himself not the least. He smiled, though quite uncomfortable with the idea of having any servant to command, and had no interest in imposing such an oath as was typically declared by a knight to his king.

Still he was touched by the gesture and moved by her humility. He lifted the little silver rod from her hands. "I will accept no oaths of service, Lady," he said, as he handed it back to her, "but we shall ride on to the end, and face the Gates of Doom, together."

All stared in wonder at the exchange, not only at the sight of a maiden offering sworn service, with an odd little rod of silver in place of a sword, or that a wizard and no lord of Men was the chosen recipient. For in that moment though they could not have put words to it or even understand it, they could all feel it: a bond so old it was rooted in the birth of the world. It gave them a fresh cheer and a renewed hope. Word quickly spread about the curious royal child of Gondor: the wizard's apprentice.

From among the raiment of war brought out for the guests, Elraen picked out a very fair polished helm of strong steel ornamented and plumed with gold, along with a pair of matching gauntlets. They paired with her cuirass and shield nicely, small enough to perhaps have been once worn by some eager young prince.

"That," said the king, "has long been a curiosity in our possession. None now know the story of how it came into our armory, save that it was found with the remains of ancient treasure in the Deep a ways north of here. It may have belonged to a young knight of Gondor, when they yet dwelt in this region. But none have used it to our memory, for it fits few and matches not the uniform adopted long ago."

The Lady of the House came around with the cup of wine. "Hail Lady! I am honored to meet a true shield maiden of the Royal House of Eorl," Elraen said to her.

The lady looked back at her, and her face looked as though it meant to smile but couldn't, and she only bowed her head in reply. Elraen could perceive just in that flash of a moment a heart and spirit in torment deep beneath the surface, and wondered.

Outside Shadowfax came dashing across the field with Sunstreak close behind. He slowed to a trot and they approached together.

"Aye, look, Legolas! The day rides with the night," said Gimli.

"Indeed!" replied the elf, who walked up with great interest to the great mare and spoke softly to it.

Elraen went with the host, her extra armor tucked into her horse's saddlebags, riding by Gimli and Legolas, trading stories of the days following the attack by Rauros Falls. For a while she rode alongside Gandalf, and together they did indeed look as day riding with night: silver moon against dark sky, next to a gray cloud edged with gold by the late afternoon sun beneath it. The wizard now felt at liberty to teach her the use of magic to store or hide things and retrieve them at will. A simple trick for their kind, with which she could now keep the wand easily hidden and accessible.

At one point on the slow ride Elraen asked Aragorn after the hobbits. "Gandalf seems to have an idea of where they are, Merry and Pippin," he said, "but only spoke in hints and riddles as is his wont. Indeed he seemed more worried over you than them. They are out of danger now, I would guess."