Reunions of various kinds
The sun had settled and its remaining lights slowly vanishing to give way for the night darkness, when Elia heard Éowyn call:
"Brothor! You are finally here! Is everything alright back home in Aldburg? Have I become an aunt yet?"
Of course Éowyn would ask about whatever Lothíriel had given birth yet before he left Aldburg, anything to avoid thinking of the worst possible scenario for her injured cousin.
"Not yet when I had left her in Aldburg, dear Sweostor of mine, I am afraid. But it should not be long before the birth."
Despite the late hour and the cooks having to scrape together a late dinner for the men by taking what they could find to make soup and serve with bread, the arrival of Éomer was much welcomed, especially when it turned out that Boromir had also come with him and could tell them what had happened on his own journey. But sadly, it also meant that they had to tell him that Denethor had passed away in his absence, in a sudden accident, and that he now was the ruling Steward of Gondor since five days prior.
"Father is...gone?"
They all felt sympathy for his shock at those news, and what it meant for Boromir to learn about this major change in his life. Especially Morwen, who could recall how her late husband Thengel had reacted on getting the letter about his father Fengel dying and that his family had to move back to Rohan, because Thengel had become the new King of Rohan by being the only son of the previous King.
"I am sorry that you have to learn the new sin this way, my poor boy."
Morwen did not insult Boromir by calling him a boy, it was simply how he looked in this moment; a lost boy, who tried to find his own footing in order to not break down mentally. And it was this silent support of the familiar people around him that Boromir needed now as he wept in grief over not being at the side of Denethor when he passed away.
Still, once he had been allowed to cry, Boromir could tell one detail that could be important further on in the war against Sauron:
Namely, who the last royal heir of Arnor was, alongside his blood ties from the long deceased Princess Firiel, who was the reason why Aragorn also could claim the Throne of Gondor.
"The last heir of Arnor?! He dared to hide his true origins from us!?"
Despite her being upset over this information, out of the older generations in the House of Eorl, Morwen was the one who understood the meaning behind Aragorn hiding his true name. Sauron had not forgotten that it was Isildur who had cut off the One Ring from his finger in the Last Alliance, and the Dark Lord undoubtedly wanted to wipe out the whole bloodline of Elendil and the descendants of his two sons as revenge for them being part of his first defeat.
"Still, he is going to get a nice little scolding from me about lying to Thengel and myself when I see him…!" the former Queen Mother promised, not noticing how Théoden and Laywyn shared a silent agreement behind her back that Aragorn, or Thorongil as they had known him as, better recall how their mother had been in character as the Queen consort of Rohan. Still, they did not protest, such a lie may have been used to protect his true identity but he had still lied to Morwen and Thengel.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
The following day, March 2:
Edoras had not changed much from what Aragorn recalled of it nearly forty years ago. But there were some differences which could be seen when they rode closer.
"As both Boromir and I mentioned back at the Council to inform those who have not been south laterly over the past years, the current King of Rohan is Théodred, the son of Théoden, who is still alive but chose to hand over the crown to his heir for health-related reasons."
Before they rode off towards the gates again, Gandalf seemed to remember something else and harried to mentioned a useful information for them to know as foreigners here in Rohan:
"Elia Martell. The Queen consort of King Théodred, she is from a country in the East that opposes Sauron, so please be mindful of what you say and behave when seeing her, she would prefer to not remember how she was treated in her first marriage. It is not my place to say what happened before she met her second and current husband, only that her widowhood was much welcomed since that marriage would have turned into a living hell otherwise."
All three of them nodded, and realized that Gandalf must have mentioned this for more than just the surprise of seeing a woman from the East as Queen consort of Rohan.
This morning Elia had left Théodred in the care of Oberyn and the well-trained healers here in Edoras; there were some audiences from the common people and reports from across Rohan that she needed to hear personally.
"So the evacuations are going well? That is good to hear, too often it is common farmers and other civilians who are the victims of war. The innocents who have no idea why their Lord suddenly demands them to join up for fighting far away from home…"
Closing her eyes for a moment, she pushed down the memories of that horrible morning when she had learned that Rhaegar had vanished with Lyanna Stark, and what that action could lead to in the long run. Those fears had been confirmed at the news of Rickard Stark being murdered by Aerys alongside his heir Brandon, and how her insane father-in-law next had demanded the heads of Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon, the brother respective betrothed of the missing Lyanna Stark.
"My Queen, there are some new riders coming…"
Suddenly Morwen was heard with her voice rising to the point of almost shouting from the outside, so even those inside the Golden Hall could hear her:
"I KNEW IT! I knew from the first look on you all those years ago that you were one of the Dúnedain from the North, Thorongil!"
Remaining in their seats at the long table there they helped Elia to check over the amount of paperwork that needed to be done, neither Théoden or Laywyn made any movement to go outside and stop Morwen from trying to slam her walking stick on top of Aragorn's head as punishment for lying about his name so many years previously.
"Stand still!"
Hearing that his comrades must have arrived, Boromir knew that this was perhaps a rather different welcome to Edoras than expected.
"I will only go and check quickly on my wounds so nothing has changed," Boromir told Elia before he went back to the guest chamber.
Soon the new arrivals had come up thr stone steps, but they also had to hand over their weapons before entering Meduseld itself.
"Gentlemen, please just surrender your weapons to Háma and get inside without arguments. That rule is to ensure that the royal family is protected inside Meduseld, not to make it easier to bring harm to us!" Elia requested a little loudly at seeing the Doorwarden entering an argument with one of the visitors, and he got all the weapons...
Sans for the wooden staff that the oldest man did not hand over.
"Is it really that hard to obey one of the most common rules of hospitality those days?" Elia muttered for herself as she wondered whatever she needed to raise from the throne and get things done herself. However, her grandmother-in-law fixed the problem by whacking the old man over the head with her walking stick from behind and Háma could add the staff to the weapons his men held.
"Get indoors with you all, do not waste time."
The threat of Morwen using her walking stick again made the four hurry inside. As they came closer, Elia realized that one of them was very familiar, though he looked very different from his last visit in Rohan this autumn.
"Did you grow tired of your grey clothing and wanted to try matching the coat of Shadowfax, Gandalf?" she could not resist asking, despite her shock since Boromir had told of his death in Moria.
"It is a long story to explain my changed appearance, my Queen."
Only now, with the schock over Gandalf passing, did Elia notice the other three. The dark-haired one was a little rugged, as expected by a long journey in the wilderness, but there was something in his eyes that told a different story. The shortest of them must be a Dwarf, based on what Boromir had told her, but he was every inch a warrior from the clothing he wore and looked pretty handsome for those who liked strong muscles and a fine beard. And the third one… he had to be an Elf, one of those immortal First Children of Eru. He was tall and fair in a manner that Rhaegar or any other Targaryen could never match, and yet he did not seem girlish at all. The sort of looks that blurred between men and women, was the closest thing Elia could explain.
"Aragorn, I might forgive you for lying about yourself all those days ago, if you get into the chamber of the King and heal my grandson from his injuries."
He was still sore from the bump in the head that Morwen had managed to give him before, so Aragorn took a wide step around the older woman to obey her request.
"Yes, my lady."
While they had never seen Elia before, both Gimli and Legolas got an impression of her being tougher than what she seemed, especially as her black eyes spoke enough of that she was not sheltered from the cruel side of the world and was a survivor of previous hardships. Besides, as a Queen consort acting for her injured husband, she was the symbol of power in Rohan right now.
"Blessed be those Halls by the Lady of Stars," Legolas spoke up, kneeling as a sign of respect, since as a Queen Consort akin to his own mother back home in Mirkwood, Elia was the female half of a ruling couple over a realm.
"We thank you for letting us come here, my Lady," Gimli added, bowing just as deeply as he would do for the wife of his distant relative Dáin II, the current King under the Mountain in Erebor.
Aegon had been watching over his sleeping stepfather to keep an eye out for any signs of him suddenly becoming worse.
"Oh?"
A stranger appeared in the door.
"Lady Morwen asked me to help the King."
The oldest son of Elia knew that there must be a good reason for Morwen to allow this man to come close to her grandson, given the situation and the need to keep Théodred protected from further harm that could kill him for real.
"Please be careful, the wound in his stomach are deep and we need our King alive to keep morale up for the people of Rohan, even if he can not join the fighting anymore for now."
Yet for a short moment, there seemed to be an unspoken, mutual understanding about something else between them. The last royal heir of Gondor who had hidden himself from Sauron nearly all his life, and the Targaryen heir who had rejected his paternal lineage because of the actions of his grandfather and sire.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Author note: Elia did not recognize Gandalf at first sight, because she is used to him as Gandalf the Gray and he has completely different clothes now as Gandalf the White
Morwen is actually nine years older than Aragorn according to their respective birth years, so I imagine that in a Modern-day AU, she would be that dreaded, hard-to-escape babysitter he never dares to prank when she is watching him
