Here is the new update. It's slightly shorter than the last. You guys gave the best reviews so I wanted to write something quickly. I hope you love it!
Chapter Five (Aragorn)
I sat straight up in my bed, sweat rolling off of me. She had been so close. Her hair had been falling into my face, her soft hand on my cheek. When I had reached out for her, she disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing behind, but her lingering smell.
I stood from the bed quickly. The sun was not yet up.
"Your Grace?" Damrod said groggily, as he sat up from his own bed in the corner of my room.
"I am fine, Damrod," I said quietly, though I was still trying to catch my breath. "I am going to call for a bath. Relax. Go back to sleep."
When the King called for a bath, the chambermaids knew that they should never come into the bathroom with buckets of hot water. Even if there was snow on the ground, the King preferred to take a frigid bath.
Once the tub had been filled, I stretched my arms overhead and pulled my linen tunic off.
The Evenstar felt heavy against my chest, when I submerged myself in the icy water. I had never enjoyed warm baths. After all of my years in the wild, I was not used to them. They were for relaxing. When was I ever able to relax? No, I had to be constantly aware. I could not doze in the heat of a bath and relax the tension in my muscles. The icy water was merely to cleanse me quickly and send me into a new day wide awake.
After my morning routine, I went into my study and began attending to the stack of parchment on my desk. It seemed no one had yet heard of the Haradrim Princess' early arrival. I knew I would have to alert my council of the previous day's events, but I was not looking forward to it.
I put off the grievous task until after lunch. I ate another light meal of bread, cheese, and fruit and then stood for the first time since I arrived at my desk. I surveyed my bookshelf, running my fingers over the worn edges of the books that had been used by King's before me for many centuries.
My fingers stopped on my favorite history of Gondor and an idea came into my head. I pulled the book from its shelf and summoned Damrod into the study.
"Alert my council members that the Princess of Harad and her son are already here. Tell them briefly and vaguely of what brought her here early. You will also have to tell them that if they wish to speak to me of it today, they will have to wait. I am done for the day and they can track me down tomorrow if they find it necessary."
Damrod nodded. "And where are you off to, Your Grace?" He asked.
"I am going to spend some time with our new guests. I will take two guards and they will trail me. They will trail me from a great distance," I repeated myself to make it known that I did not want anyone breathing down my neck.
"Very well, Sire. I will have them ready in a moment."
When I was told everything was ready for my departure, I made my way through the royal corridors. There was an entire portion of the palace of Minas Tirith devoted to the royal family. There were my rooms, my study, a private dining room, private gardens, the Queen's chambers, the nursery that was attached to those, and a few select guest rooms. Mareke had already been set up in the Queen's rooms and so I made my way there.
I had the book tucked under my arm when I reached Mareke's rooms. Knocking on the door, I waited patiently, my thumb absent-mindedly rubbing over the rough spine of the book.
The woman Mareke had brought with her came to the door. She offered a hasty curtsy. "One moment, Your Grace. I will fetch the Princess," she said in heavily accented Common Tongue. Mareke and her father had both spoken to me in Sindarin, but I suppose it made sense for the lady-in-waiting to learn the Common Tongue as she would be dealing with those in Gondor who spoke it more often than not.
A moment later, Mareke appeared at the door and offered a much more graceful curtsy. "Good afternoon, Your Majesty."
I waved away her formality. "Please, call me Aragorn. No one else does anymore. It will be good to hear that name."
"As you wish," she replied, studying me with her dark eyes. She did not say anything else and then I remembered that I was the one who had sought her out.
"I came across this book in my study. I am sure you read some history of my Realm before you came here, but this is my favorite. It is a little more accessible than some of the others."
Mareke cocked an eyebrow at me.
"Not that you could not understand the more difficult tomes," I said quickly. "I am sure you can. It is just that this one is a bit lighter with more interesting facets of history."
Luckily, she actually laughed lightly. "Thank you, Aragorn." I passed the book to her. "I will begin reading it as soon possible."
All of a sudden, I heard the raised voice of Prince Adnan, though he was speaking in his own tongue. Before she could do anything to stop him, the boy had come flying to the door and crashed into the back of his mother's legs.
I had to laugh, though I tried to stifle it, as Mareke braced herself on the doorframe, though instinctively I reached out with a hand to steady her.
"Adnan, please," she said, rolling her eyes. "Now the King will surely think we are barbarians."
The boy looked up at me and his cheeks flushed. "I am sorry, Your Majesty. I promise we are not barbarians." Adnan looked truly remorseful and I feared the admonishment from his mother might push him to tears.
"Not at all. Actually, Minas Tirith could use a little more excitement so I am very glad you are here in all your rambunctious glory. My people can be quite stuffy and stiff as you will surely learn in the near future. Perhaps they could use your spirit." A smile finally began to creep onto his face. "And you may call me Strider. Only the closest of my friends use that nickname. I would be honored to count you among them."
The Prince's frown quickly turned into a huge grin.
"I have begged off duty for the rest of the afternoon. I was hoping the two of you might allow me to show you around, at least the royal gardens."
Again, Adnan looked up at his mother. He was eager to leave the rooms I could tell. Mareke's hand went into his raven curls. "That would be lovely," she said.
I offered the tall woman my arm and her son latched onto her hand. Though he was eager to be out of the Queen's chambers, he was still uncertain in his new environment.
Luckily, we met no one but chambermaids and other servants as we walked toward the gardens. They stared at us, but they would never dream of directly addressing me, though I would not have minded if they had.
It was not that I was ashamed that Mareke was in Gondor. I had agreed to the marriage of Gondor and Harad and I did not regret it. I had a terrible feeling that there would be an onslaught for her when the people learned that she was there. I wanted to give her and her son some peace while they got adjusted to their new home before she would have to deal with any external factors.
It was a gray day in Minas Tirith, which did not do much for the aesthetic of the garden. Unfortunately, under the care of the Steward Denethor they had suffered as he had slowly lost his mind. Some of the flowers were wilting, many were already quite dead, and some paths were overgrown.
"It is not much," I said apologetically.
Mareke was silent for a moment as we walked along the main path. "It reflects the rest of the world at this point in time."
I nodded. "So it does. That makes it even more depressing in my mind."
"Like all things, it can be repaired. It will take careful attention and dedication, but it will get back to its former glory, I am sure."
"You are quite the optimist," I said quietly.
"What else do we have?"
I looked over at her, but she did not meet my eyes. Instead, she watched like a hawk in front of her, as Adnan hurried ahead.
"Stay where I can see you," she called after him.
I studied her profile. She was very young, but there were smile lines around her eyes and mouth. Part of her life had been happy, though I could see the cares she wore in her heart. It was probably not evident to everyone else, but perhaps there was something between two sad souls that spoke to each other.
I waved one of the guards so he would walk ahead of us and trail the little boy.
"I will have a retinue of guards at your and Adnan's disposal from now on."
She merely nodded and we walked in silence, trailing Adnan for a while longer.
Mareke was not disagreeable to me. Having her in Minas Tirith made me more hopeful for our future than I had been before. In the few hours since she had arrived, she had only been pleasant and if the rest of my people would not enjoy the young prince then I knew he would certainly bring some joy to my life at least. Someone with so much energy could only help.
As we finished our lap around the garden, Adnan came back and joined us.
"Strider, can I show you my new room?" He asked excitedly.
Mareke shook her head. "Adnan, we are living in the King's palace. I am sure he has seen your room. He is quite busy. You know it is a lot of work to be a King."
I looked at her sheepishly. "I actually have not seen the nursery. My chief assistant assured me that all was in order and I took him at face value."
"Oh."
"It is full of toys!" The boy exclaimed. "I could only bring a few of my own, so that was lucky," he said rapidly.
"I would love to see them." I nodded enthusiastically. "And I told you that I am not doing any more work this afternoon," I said to Mareke.
Adnan led the way back. I was surprised he knew the way after only one trip, but Mareke explained that he was a very attentive child.
"Come on, Strider!" Adnan exclaimed as he went bounding through the Queen's rooms to the door to the nursery.
He pushed the door open and Mareke and I followed, though before anyone could enter the room, something small came shooting out, hiding under a chair in the sitting room that connected the Queen's bedroom and the nursery.
I jerked Mareke's arm so she was behind me.
"What was that!?" I demanded wildly. The thing had moved too fast for me to discern it at all.
The guards were hesitant, probably because they were not certain about the Haradrim yet.
"Adnan!" Mareke said sternly, freeing herself from my grasp and approaching her son. He would not meet her stern gaze. "What have you done?"
"He was sleeping in my shirt when we left," he said quietly.
"Did you think it wise to bring him to Minas Tirith?"
"I did not think. He was with me then. During the boat ride, I hid him in the bag with my clothes and snuck him some of my food."
I was confused. "Him? What in all of Arda are you talking about?"
"Get your pet, Adnan. Show the King."
I watched as Adnan approached the chair where the blur had hidden. He knelt and then laid on his stomach and stuck his arm under the chair."
"Come here," he whispered. "It is all right. No one will hurt you."
Finally, he stood up and I was shocked to see that the boy was holding a rather large kitten by the scruff of its neck.
"Is that a cat?" I asked, a smile creeping onto my lips.
"No. He is a leopard and his name is Duma," Adnan said, now not meeting my gaze.
"You will have to send him back with jidd (grandfather)," Mareke said.
Adnan nodded, though his eyes were downcast. I hated to watch such a scene thinking that it would only be one more thing that he would be separated from.
"Perhaps we can find a place for Duma," I said hesitantly, looking to Mareke to know if that was acceptable.
"Really?" The boy looked up at me and I could see that he had been seconds away from crying. Tears had already welled in his deep brown eyes.
"How big will he get?" I addressed that question to the mother. "I have never seen such a creature." I crouched down and beckoned Adnan to come closer. The cat was golden in color with black spots. "He is fascinating." I took him in my hands and stroked the soft fur to the rumbling appreciation of the small beast.
"He will be larger than any dog." She put her hand at the middle of her thigh. "And will stand about this tall."
Adnan was watching me hopefully.
"Would you give your mother and I a moment to speak alone?" I asked him.
He walked, Duma cradled to his chest, into his room once more, closing the door behind him.
"You do not need to allow his pet to stay," she said.
"I know, but I do not want to have to take anything else away from him," I replied.
"Before long he would forget about it. Those animals can be dangerous and your people are unaccustomed to them."
I pondered that for a moment. "Would it be alright if Duma lived in our private garden? He would not harm us would he?"
Mareke sighed. "No, probably not. It has been tradition in Harad for a very long time for leopards to act as companions and protection when necessary to the royal family. Duma was a gift from my father to Adnan on his most recent birthday."
"Well that decides it. I am not going to take a child's birthday gift from him."
ooooOoooo
Two days later, I was not so lucky as to take the afternoon off. My council was not exactly thrilled that the princess and her son had been sprung on them so early. I had received nearly all of the older council members in my study and listened to their complaints as patiently as I could, while saying the same thing over and over to them.
"What am I to do? Send a woman and child back to a dangerous situation? That could potentially lose us the alliance we have set up. Not to mention, it would be an act without dignity or honor."
Most of them went away grumbling that we should not have made the alliance in the first place and that the Southrons would bring us nothing but trouble.
When I had thought I was through with such meetings for the day, there was another knock at my door.
"Come in," I called, less than enthusiastically.
Instead of one of my advisors, it was King Hashad.
I stood, showing respect for a fellow ruler. "Your Grace." I sat back down and gestured that he do the same. "I did not expect to see you here," I said.
"I am leaving in the morning," he said, getting straight to the point.
"So soon?"
"Yes, well as you can imagine I find that I should return home as soon as possible as things might be rather more tumultuous than when I left."
I nodded. "I can understand that. As rulers it is our job to handle such things."
"You will find that it wears on you," he said. "It seems so exciting and promising when you begin, but you may find that you have surprisingly little power. Less so than the common man, I sometimes feel."
I did not tell them that I had never been excited at the prospect. I appreciated his honesty too much do that.
"I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for my daughter and grandson."
"Anyone would have done the same thing," I replied.
"Not necessarily. It is incredible that there is to be a marriage in the first place."
"It will benefit both of our Realms greatly, I am sure."
"I hope so."
Hashad stood and lingered at the door as though there was something else he wanted to say.
"I do not expect you to treat Adnan as your son, but I can see that there is very much good in you." He would not meet my gaze. "Since I will no longer be a part of his daily life, he could use a role model."
I could see the pain it caused the man to leave his grandson behind.
"He never really knew his father and though you and he fought on opposing sides, he was a good man. I think you might have respected one another. It is a shame that Adnan will not have that influence in his life."
"I will do all in my power for that boy," I assured the older man, emotion coming into my voice from out of nowhere. "He has already brought joy to my life. I can only hope to bring some benefit to his."
Hashad nodded. "I am sure you will." Without another word, the man left my study.
ooooOoooo
The next day, I told Damrod again that I would not be attending to any matters of State in the afternoon.
Mareke let me into sitting room and Adnan came out of his room, head down, with Duma trailing at his heels. I could see that the departure of his grandfather had left him rather morose.
"Adnan, would you care to accompany me to our practice range? I have been asked to go and take a look at some of the young soldiers who are training with swords and bows there."
This piqued his interest and he looked up at me.
"If your mother says that you may, of course."
Adnan turned his attention to Mareke. "May I, Mother?"
She hesitated, but apparently found no risk. "I do not see why not," she said.
"Well that settles it. Leave Duma with your mother for protection and we will head that way."
Word had spread quickly that the Haradrim mother and child were in the city. My councilors had apparently not been able to keep their mouths shut. I took three guards with us as we ventured through the city just to be safe. I could feel not only my sword at my hip, but the blade I had on my ankle as well. I had not walked around so heavily armed in a very long time.
We encountered a few people as we walked a couple of levels down. They bowed their heads as a sign of respect to me. That did not stop them from ogling the child who walked at my side or whispering behind their hands to one another.
Adnan's steps seemed to lighten as we came closer to the rings where the young soldiers were practicing their one on one combat. There were fences around the dust rings and it seemed to obstruct the boy's view.
"Climb on up there," I urged him.
He eagerly did. His eyes did not once leave the soldiers. He seemed to be absorbing their every move as though there would be a test on it. I knew about very few of his interests, but the swordplay to be one.
The sun began to set while we were still watching.
"We have probably been away long enough," I said, helping down from where he was still clinging to the fence.
"We can do this whenever you like," I said gently as we climbed the steps back to the royal level. I had to slow my pace so that I would not leave Adnan behind on his little legs.
"I have a play sword," he said. "My father left it for me when he went away. I was just a baby so he never taught me how to use it."
I knew exactly what it was like to have lost a father at such a young age. My surrogate father had been an incredible man and I could not imagine what my life would have been like without him.
"I can teach you if you like."
There you have it! Please let me know what you think about this update! I enjoyed writing this one.
Happy reading,
Avonmora