Disclaimer: I do now own anything.
Belfalas – Five Years after the War of the Ring
Lilith sat in her study reading letters when a servant knocked on the door and entered and handed her mistress a small pouch and told her it was delivered by a man along with gifts, which she'd taken to her room.
Lilith thanked her and when she opened the pouch she saw one parchment addressed to her liege which had a Royal Seal she'd never seen before and wondered why someone sent it to her. She saw another parchment with her name written on it, opened it and began reading the letter from her long lost daughter. After she finished reading the letter she wept and re-read the letter again after she composed herself. She then went to her room and opened the gifts her daughter sent.
Lilith went back to her study and wrote a letter to Prince Imrahil in Minas Tirith asking for an audience and told him why.
xxx
"We thought Amie was dead mother," Haldar said after his mother told him Amie was alive and about her life.
Lilith always knew her daughter was strong-willed girl and very determined, and on more than one occasion she told her mother she knew her fate and destiny was elsewhere.
"What will people say about her husband's background?" Haldar asked with a raised eyebrow. "They sound like barbarians."
Lilith didn't reply to her son's remark and knew he only cared about appearances and what others thought, whereas her daughter was the opposite.
"What are you going to do mother?" he asked.
"Amie wants me to come and live with her and that's what I'm going to do," she answered.
"We don't know anything about those people mother," he said with a horrified look on his face.
"I know my daughter is very happy and that's all I need to know," she replied.
"What are you going to do with the house?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sell it," she answered.
"Mother!" he yelled standing up.
"Don't think I don't know about you. I told you years ago that servants gossip and they know everything – and you should've heeded my warning. After I sell this house you can live in our smaller home," she told him.
"That house is small," he said.
"You'll have to make do," she replied. "But I do expect you to travel North with us for appearances sake."
Haldar reluctantly agreed.
xxx
Minas Tirith
"Welcome back," King Elessar said to Prince Imrahil when he walked into his office. "How are your grandsons?"
"They're perfect," he answered smiling. Prince Imrahil took his usual seat when his liege held out his hand for him to sit down. "I received a letter from Lilith, who's my wife's cousin's best friend. Madam Lilith is a rich merchant's daughter and has a son and daughter, Haldar and Amie. They spent many summers with us and Amie and Lothíriel got along very well, however, Amie's very different from Lothíriel."
"What do you mean?" Elessar asked.
"She never did things Noble girls did, such as sewing and the like. She only wanted to ride horses and practice with her bow, which she brought with her every time she visited. Amie also has a great head for business and she learned that from her father. On one occasion she gave me and my sons advice on how to deal with certain problems we were having and they worked," he answered.
King Elessar laughed.
"Before the Ring War, Selma, my dead wife's cousin, wrote and asked me if Amie was at Dol Amroth. I wrote back and told her no and asked why. She wrote me back and told me Amie, who was 18 at the time, had disappeared and her mother and brother couldn't find her anywhere. Lothíriel was very upset when she found out, because they're become good friends and she thought the worse, along with everyone else. Madam Lilith received a letter from Amie a month ago. There was another letter in the same pouch and that letter has a Royal Seal and it's addressed to you. Madam Lilith also wrote and told me Amie wanted her to deliver that letter to me and for me to give it to my King," Imrahil told his liege.
"Does Madam Lilith know where her daughter is?" Elessar asked.
"She'll tell me everything if I grant her an audience," Imrahil answered.
"I think we should grant Madam Lilith an audience my friend, I want that letter," Elessar said.
"Yes my liege," Imrahil replied.
A few weeks later Lilith received a reply from Prince Imrahil granting her an audience. But he didn't tell her their King will be in attendance.
xxx
"Prince Imrahil has granted me an audience," Lilith told her son.
"You're only going to humiliate our family mother," he said. "Just think what they're think of my sister."
"Your sister hasn't done anything wrong Haldar," she replied shaking her head.
"She married a nobleman's bastard son," he said with an angry look on his face.
"So what," she replied looking at her son.
"How can you do this to me mother?" he asked indigently and turned on his heel and walked out of her study.
xxx
Minas Tirith
A week later Lilith arrived in Minas Tirith and was greeted by Faramir who had a servant show her to her room. After she bathed and changed another servant escorted her to King Elesser's office. When she entered she did obedience to her King, Prince Imrahil, Prince Amrothos and Prince Faramir.
"Welcome to Minas Tirith Madam Lilith," King Elessar said when she entered his office and indicated where she should sit.
"Thank you King Elessar," she replied and sat in the empty chair next to Prince Imrahil. "Before you read your letter King Elessar my daughter wrote in her letter that you might wish to know about her husband and his people."
"Of course," he replied.
Lilith took out the parchment with the Royal Seal from the small pouch she had in her hand and handed it to Prince Imrahil. She saw him look at the Royal Seal and then hand the parchment to their King.
King Elessar looked at the Royal Seal and turned the parchment over and saw King Elessar, Gondor written on the other side. He put the parchment on his desk and told Madam Lilith she could begin reading the letter from her daughter.
"Thank you King Elessar," she replied and opened the parchment and began reading.
Dear Mother,
I know you've been worried about me and I'm very sorry about what I put you though. There's a lot to tell you, but first I'll tell you about the man I married and his people. When I left home I traveled North and met my future husband, I'll tell you how we met when I see you again. He was traveling with his friends when we met and told me I was the reason his mother sent him South. His mother is a seer-witch and seer-witch's are women who can foresee part of the future. She only told him there was something for him in the South and he'll know it when it sees it. When we first met he told me I was the reason his mother sent him South.; and before we rode North he told me to ride by his side and I've been by his side since that day. Adair and his friends are from the North and they call themselves the Northmen and they live at the top of the world. They call the people in Middle-Earth, Southerner's, and he and his friends were the first Northmen to cross their borders and travel South.
While we were traveling North he asked me about the desolate lands in Enedwaith and I told him the Númenóreans destroyed those lands and the reasons why. Then he told me the history of his people, and I learned it was the Númenóreans who drove his people out of East Arnor in the Second Age. His people came over the mountains and settled in East Arnor a few hundred year into the Second Age, long before the Númenóreans came and invaded their lands. They went to war with the Númenóreans and lost, and Ana, a seer-witch, told the King from across the sea what will befall his people, and everything she foretold came to pass. Adair is a descendant of Adair and his wife Ana. His ancestors were merchant's, the same as ours.
When I first met Adair I thought he was of the Nobility by the way he carried himself. One night I asked him about his background and he told me he's a nobleman's bastard son and his mother is a servant in his household. He was raised as a servant in his Lord's household, but learned to read, write, speak Westron and fight.
The Northmen are winter's people and they're hard and tough. The winters last five months and it's extremely cold at the top of the world during the winter. My horse was not bred for the winters in the North, nor are any horses in the South. The horses in the North are more powerfully built, have greater endurance and stamina and they don't need as much rest.
When we arrived on Adair's Lord's estate in the East I met his mother who was the head servant for the kitchen. She showed me to my room which was Adair's bedroom when he was a boy. Adair lived on another part of the estate because his Lord told him to leave after he turned 17 springs and then sent him to their borders to fight the foul things and the men that came with them from the South.
I lived in the servant's wing and got to know the household staff before I married Adair. After I accepted Adair's marriage proposal he told me his Lord is the Lord of those lands and he can take what he wants and he wasn't going to leave me there after we got married and our lives were going to be hard. I've never known such hardship in my life mother; but I had my husband by my side which made it bearable. Now I know what the Swan Knights and the other men in the South went through to protect us. Give my thanks to Prince Imrahil, his sons and the Swan Knights.
Before the war Adair's mother left the estate before her Lord returned home and went West. Adair lead the Eastern army into battle and most of them were Khan's people and some were women who rode to war with their men. They're a fierce people, great warriors and riders and their females are just as fierce and capable as their men. These females can best any man in the South, including the Swan Knights. Khan's people fighting style is very different, they're very agile and have great anticipation. All of them, including their women, can break every bone in the body with ease. Adair fights the same way and he too can break every bone in the body. They start training their children at a very young age, including the girls.
After the war we went to live with Adair's people further East. Adair is of mixed race and his great grandmother's people came from the Far East and his great grandfather was a Northmen. Khan's people also came from the Far East, and while they were traveling westward they set up trade routes all along the way from the East Sea to the Belegaer Sea and the Northmen trade with them. The cultures, clothes and languages of the people from the Far East are very different from ours and no one in the Far East looks like us. The Far East is over a thousand leagues away.
Ten months after the war Adair was crowned King of the North and he was 22 springs. I was crowed Queen of the North right after I turned 20 winters. Before Adair was crowned King, Lord Balar gave him a ring to put on his finger...and that ring is the symbol of the Crown itself. When King Adair dies the ring will be taken off his finger and given to his heir, who'll become King the moment he puts the ring on his finger. He'll be crowned later. It was Adair's deeds before and during the war that made him King. We were also told my Kings horse,Wind, is the only horse like it in the North and his sword... The females who fought in the war are now part of the King's Guard and my King has great confidence in their abilities and he trusts them with his life.
We left our village a week later and traveled West. While we were traveling westward we stopped at all the Lord's estates in the East and Adair handed them the Proclamation signed by all the Lords in the West, who are the majority of the Lords in the North, pronouncing Adair, King of the North and me Queen of the North. You should have seen the look on his father's face when he saw the Crown on his son's head and after reading the Proclamation. When we finally arrived at the castle months later and when my King's mother looked up and she saw the Crown on her son's head, she wept in his arms. A servant girl, who raised a King. She's now Lady Katrina and Head of the Royal Household.
You have two grandchildren, Princess Ana and Prince Doran. They're twins and Ana was born first and they're two years old. I asked my King if you can come and live with us and he granted my request and said yes.
I love you mother and miss you very much. I hope to see you soon.
Her Grace Amie, Queen of the North
Lilith had tears in her eyes after she finished reading the letter.
"Do you know how to contact King Adair, Madam Lilith?" King Elessar asked.
"Yes," she answered.
xxx
King Elessar opened and read the parchment with the Royal Seal after Lilith was escorted out of his office.
"King Adair has asked permission to enter Gondor so he and his Queen can visit the Queen's mother. His Majesty also wants to discuss trade with Gondor," Elessar told him. "I'm going to grant King Adair's request and discuss trade with him during a State visit."
"Madam Lilith's home and grounds are not large enough for a Royal Party," Prince Imrahil told his liege.
"Do you have any ideas?" Elessar asked smiling at Imrahil.
"They can stay at Dol Amroth," he answered.
"Thank you Prince Imrahil," Elessar said.
xxx
"I wonder what Ana's prophecy was about the Númenóreans," Faramir said.
"We'll find out when they arrive," Elessar replied.
"A fine lady like Amie, living in the wild," Amrothos said shaking his head.
"We know the reason why Amrothos," his father replied. "Her Grace appreciates all the men in the North and South for everything we've done to protect what we have. She did the same thing."
"The women who fought in the war in the North sound like Éowyn," Faramir said with a smile.
"There's a difference between your wife and the women from the Far East," Prince Imrahil said to his cousin. "The women from the Far East are trained to fight at a young age, like their men. That's why their men have great confidence in their abilities and why they ride to war with them. Those women are now members of the King's Guard and King Adair trusts them with his life."
"And they're just as fierce as their men," King Elessar replied nodding his head.
"We're taught to protect our women and children," Amrothos said.
"Cultural difference Amrothos," his father replied.
King Elessar told them King Adair's horse is a Mearas.
xxx
Lilith returned home a few days later and began making preparations to leave Gondor. She contacted her advisers and told them her wishes. They were surprised when she told them she was selling everything, except her smaller home, which will be sold after her son dies.
A month later King Elessar and Prince Faramir decided on a date to invite King Adair and Queen Amie to Gondor. Faramir then dispatched Amrothos to Madam Lilith's home with the Royal invitation.
xxx
Edoras
After Éomer King read the letter from his friend King Elessar, whom he still calls Aragon, he summoned Lord's Elfhelm and Erkenbrand to the Meduseld.
xxx
A Week Later
Lord's Elfhelm and Erkenbrand, were sitting in their King's office while he told his Queen about her friend Amie
"Amie is a Queen?" Lothíriel asked surprised.
"Why does that surprise you?" Éomer asked.
"Her family is not of the Nobility, they're merchants," she answered.
"How do you know Queen Amie, Lothíriel Queen?" Erkenbrand asked.
She told them, and that Amie disappeared years ago. "I wonder how she got to the top of the world?" she asked.
"You can ask her when you see her again. King Adair wants to meet Queen Amie's family in Belfalas and also discuss trade with Gondor. King Elessar has granted the King and Queen of the North permission to visit the Queen's family. He's invited them to Minas Tirith for a State visit and we're also invited," Éomer told her.
"Are we also going to discuss trade with the North?" she asked.
"Maybe," he answered.
xxx
Éomer told his Lord's what else was in Aragon's letter after his Queen left his office.
"Are you going to tell Lothíriel Queen about King Adair's background," Elfhelm asked.
"Later," Éomer answered.
"How did he become King?" Elfhelm asked his liege with a raised eyebrow.
"Apparently it was his deeds before and during the Ring War," Éomer answered. "King Elessar also wrote that the Far East is over a thousand leagues away."
"That's a long way Éomer," Elfhelm said surprised.
"I know," he replied smiling. "I forgot to mentioned that King Adair's horse is a Mearas and his name is Wind.
"His horse is a Mearas?" Elfhelm asked still stunned.
"Yes, and he's the only Mearas in the North," Éomer answered. "Wind is his Felaróf."
"Now I see why he's King," Erkenbrand said nodding his head. "He was destined to become one, in spite of his birth – the horse and the sword."