You guys have made me so happy with your reviews and PMs that I just had to write another update. It's another short one, but I'm pretty happy with it and I hope you will be as well! Maybe I'll have two chapters this week. Who knows! Enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen (Mareke)

The palace had been grandly decorated for the Yule season. Streamers of green, gold, red, and silver were hung in every corridor and every doorway was adorned with wreaths and boughs of evergreen.

It was Adnan and I's first Yule as we had never celebrated it before in Harad. In the South, the summer solstice was more important than the winter solstice. However, in Gondor the people celebrated the days growing longer in the middle of winter.

There was a thick layer of snow coating all of Minas Tirith and Adnan had never been so happy.

One afternoon, just before the actual celebrations for Yule, Gimli brought Adnan back to my rooms where I had been writing a letter to Eowyn. As I had predicted, she had given birth to a son nearly a month before. I was beyond happy for her and Faramir, but there was a bit of selfishness within me that wished the timing had been better. As a result of the recent delivery, they would not be joining us for Yule. Even though, the holiday was much more intimate than many of the other celebrations I had witnessed in Gondor, I had been hoping that Eowyn and Faramir would make it.

"You have cut your lesson short, Master Dwarf," I said looking up in mock reproach as they entered my small study.

"Ah we have. But it is to be replaced by another lesson. The Prince was hoping that his mother would accompany us as he believes it is something she should learn as well."

I raised an eyebrow and shifted my gaze from Gimli to Adnan. "And what is it that you think your mother does not already know?"

My son tried to suppress his grin. "Gimli is going to teach me how to build a fort out of the snow for a proper snowball fight!" He exclaimed.

"And I need to know that because?" I asked, though I could not help but smile.

"Because if you go out into the gardens with the little Prince here you will be at a serious disadvantage, Your Majesty, and I would not have that on my conscience," Gimli said with a grin, though his beard hid it well.

"When it is put that way, it sounds as though I must learn." I stood from behind my desk. "I will fetch my cloak."

"I also brought you the silver leopard that Adnan requested for the new little bairn of Ithilien," Gimli said, holding up a perfect replica of Duma that fit in the palm of his hand. I took it and gently set it on my desk.

Adnan and I had been planning gifts to send to the new family. I had had Oyna stitch several outfits, I packed items from the kitchen that would not spoil on their way to Ithilien, and Adnan, remembering how taken Eowyn had been with his leopard, had requested that we send Elboron his own tiny pet since we could not send him a real one.

"It is perfect, Gimli. Your work is always astounding."
"You flatter me, lass," he said modestly, cheeks coloring under his red beard.

"Nonsense. All of my praise is well deserved." I went to retrieve my cloak and gloves and made sure that Adnan was bundled up tightly against the chill winter air.

"Well Master Dwarf, I think we are ready for our lesson in snow warfare," I said, which caused Adnan to laugh out loud.

"I would not take this lightly, Your Majesty," Gimli said still beaming as he led us out into the garden.

Immediately, Duma greeted us. At first, I had been worried about him adapting to the cold winter, but I should not have been. In Harad, leopards were a symbol of adaptability and he had merely grown a thicker fur coat to cope with the snow and wind.

The cat rubbed himself against my leg and I watched as Gimli and Adnan went to work making a fort out of the heavy snow.

"And I am supposed to fend for myself?" I asked.

"I will help you in just a moment," Gimli said, taking to his knees in the snow alongside my son as though he himself were no more than a boy. I could not help but smile at the pair.

I continued to watch, rubbing Duma's head and back in an effort to keep my hands warm. Gimli and Adnan built a fort wall that came up to my son's chest which was quite impressive.

"This looks like a useful lesson," someone said behind me and I turned to see Legolas with Aragorn trailing behind him.

"Well I had to take him outside since you keep him cooped up while he is in your care," Gimli said back to the Elf.

Legolas laughed. "That is the furthest thing from the truth, is it not, Adnan?"

"I believe between the two of you my son is plenty entertained and educated. I wrapped myself tighter in my cloak as I faced the newcomers.

"Are you also partaking in the lesson?" Aragorn asked with a stiff smile.

"We could not help but notice from the King's study," Legolas said, his smile more natural. "We have actually been cooped up all morning."

"I am, though I have so far been neglected in favor of the younger pupil."

Just as I finished my sentence, something thumped onto my back. I turned quickly to see Adnan with a very guilty smile on his face. Gimli was pointing at him so as not to be presumed culpable.

"I believe your son just declared all out snow war," Legolas said and even his smile could not be contained.

"Gimli has already given his loyalty to my son," I said, bending over and packing a ball of snow together. I lobbed it at Adnan gently and it hit him in the shoulder. He dove behind the fort that he and Gimli had created.

"We would be quite the heels if we did not defend the fair lady," Legolas said, taking off at a run, already having an armful of snowballs that he threw behind the fort wall, hitting Gimli and Adnan. When he ran out of ammunition, he hid behind a tree and crafted more.

Aragorn took my hand and dragged me behind a tree as well. His smile was more genuine and I hoped his earlier bad mood was from all of the work he had been doing in his study.

All three of us were making snowballs and trying to throw them over the wall that Gimli and Adnan had created, but many were hitting the wall itself.

"We're going to have to separate," Aragorn said conspiratorially. He peeked out around the tree and was hit in the chest by one of Gimli's throws. "Blasted Dwarf!" He called, causing Adnan to giggle even more.

Aragorn gestured for Legolas to go one way around the wall. "You go around the other way and I will act as a distraction."

He was already creating a huge pile of snowballs. "When I step out from behind the tree, you run behind the wall," he instructed, still grinning.

The King stepped out and the two behind the fort wall began focusing their attention on him, not noticing Legolas and I coming around both sides, sneaking behind trees and dead shrubs.

Aragorn was being pummelled by Gimli and Adnan's snowballs, though he fought on valiantly.

I met Legolas behind the crouching Dwarf and little boy and we began unloading our armfuls of snowballs on them.

"Oh! We've been surrounded, Adnan!" Gimli exclaimed. They were out of snowballs.

"You must surrender," Legolas said. "You have no other option, Master Dwarf."

"And you thought it would be so easy to beat your mother," I said to Adnan, who despite his loss was grinning at me. "The loser should have to suffer through an embarrassing amount of kisses," I said, taking a step towards Adnan, but he immediately took off through the snow.

I chased him for a moment, when out of nowhere Aragorn stepped in and snatched him up.

"The prisoner of our snow war is all yours, my Queen. Punish him as you see fit," he said with a conspiratorial smile.

Adnan shrieked as I took his face in my hands and kissed every inch of his cheeks, forehead, nose, and chin.

I could hear Legolas and Gimli laughing behind.

"That will teach you to challenge your mother," Gimli laughed. "Or any woman for that matter, laddie."

"Better luck next time," I said to Adnan as he latched onto my hand. "Let us go warm ourselves in front of the fire. Perhaps we can send for some warm cider." The tart drink had been one of Adnan's favorite Yule treats.

He nodded eagerly.

"I think I would prefer a warm mead," Gimli said. "What do you say, Master Elf?"

Legolas nodded. "I think that sounds like a fine idea." We entered the palace and they began to go their separate ways. "We will see you for the feast, little prince," Legolas said waving to Adnan.

My son stopped abruptly as we passed into the section of the palace where the royal chambers were. I was jerked back by the force of his movement and the strong grip he had on my hand.

"Adnan! What was that?"

He was pointing to a green sprig hanging from the beam above.

"What?" I asked.

Aragorn had stopped when he realized I was at his side no longer.

"Are you alright, Adnan?" He asked, striding back toward us. I was still looking down at my son curiously.

"Mistletoe!" He exclaimed. "Gimli told me of that tradition. Kiss!" He said, looking up at me.

I immediately felt my face color, but tried to play it off without looking at Aragorn. I knelt down and pulled Adnan against my chest, kissing his cheek, hoping that would quiet him.

Adnan laughed and shook his head much to my chagrin. "You have given me plenty of kisses today! You are supposed to kiss your sweetheart under the mistletoe and you two must be sweethearts since you are married."

I straightened slowly. Aragorn and I had not kissed once since our wedding ceremony and that had been eight months earlier. I could not meet his gaze. My cheeks were burning, but Adnan continued to stare at us.

The physical relationship between the King and I could hardly be considered intimate. It still happened fairly regularly, but I felt no attachment to him and he obviously felt the same way toward me, seemingly hoping that I would soon find myself with child and we could be done with the business for a while. It was perfunctory and when it was over he would readjust his sleeping shirt, put his robe back on without a word, and make his way back to his own chambers.

Finally, Aragorn took my chin between his thumb and forefinger and chastely pressed his lips against mine, his beard briefly tickling my sensitive skin. When he pulled away, his gray eyes avoided mine.

"Happy?" He asked Adnan rather brusquely.

Adnan shrugged. Gimli's lesson must have stemmed from seeing a couple sneaking a much more passionate kiss than what had just transpired between the King and I.

ooooOoooo

"Why can I not go with you, Mama?" Adnan asked as I prepared a basket to take to Vanya, who had been trapped in her rooms for a couple of weeks.

I shrugged, having no way to explain the Gondoran's strange tradition of confinement. No men were allowed to see the expectant mother, little boys included. "Because those are the rules, Adnan. I did not make them, but we all must abide by them."

"Well that just seems silly," Adnan shook his head. "What is the matter with company if you are not feeling well?"

I could not suppress a light laugh. "I do not know. Could you bring me that plate of cookies?" I asked him, pointing at the large plate covered with a handkerchief, trying to distract my curious son. He did as he was bid, but stared longingly at the Yule cookies.

"One," I said firmly. Adnan beamed and as he sat the plate down in front of my basket, he inhaled a cookie in two bites.

"But Vanya is not even ill," Adnan sighed, not to be distracted for long.

"No, she is not," I agreed. "But expecting a baby is hard work and she needs her rest." I did not finish the sentence, did not say that that was fairly specific to Gondor.

"I will give her all of your love," I promised. "And we will go for a visit to meet the baby when it arrives."

"That is not for so long," Adnan exclaimed, whining.

Just as I reached my wit's end with him, the door opened and Legolas came in.

"Thank goodness," I sighed. "Perhaps today's lesson could be one in patience, Legolas?" I asked.

The Elf gave a light chuckle. "That would take years, perhaps even longer with your son," he replied. "And I only have a few hours with him today."

"I feared there was little hope," I said with a smile, kneeling before Adnan with the basket looped over my arm. "Try to behave for Legolas," I suggested, kissing his forehead and straightening back up.

A dozen guards had been summoned to escort me through the city and so I made my way to Beinion's and Vanya's home.

Beinion himself greeted me. "Your Majesty, welcome back."

"Thank you," I said with a kind smile, allowing a servant to take my cloak. While Vanya had done it herself on my last visit, Beinion would still not lower himself in such a manner.

"No meetings today, my lord?" I asked.

"Not until this afternoon," he gave me a tentative smile. "Vanya has been most looking forward to your visit, or so I am told in my daily reports from her women. Apparently, she has been fairly despondent of late."

"I am sure she has. It must be difficult to be shut away for an unknown amount of time," I said. "But surely your child will be here soon and she can join us once more."

Beinion nodded and gestured for a servant to take me to Vanya's rooms.

My friend was propped in her bed, but it took me a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness in the rooms. The curtains were drawn and a fire was going in the grate, causing the room to be stifling hot. Only a few of the torches were lit so the room was nearly dark.

I made my way cautiously to the bed. "Vanya," I said tentatively.

"Oh Mareke!" She exclaimed, tossing aside her needlework and opening her arms to me as I sat on the edge of the bed.

I wrapped her in my arms and hugged her tightly.

"I am so happy you are here," she breathed, not letting me go.

"As am I," I replied, hauling the basket up onto the bed when I was finally free of her embrace. "I have brought you some things. Baked goods, which Adnan only stole one of, bath salts, a few books to keep you entertained."

"Nothing keeps me entertained for very long," she grumbled.

"I do not doubt it, but it should be over soon," I tried to soothe her.

"I hope so."

"How are you feeling otherwise?" I asked.

"Miserable. I am so uncomfortable. Sitting here day in and day out is a physical pain."

I had suspected as much. I had been free to move about as I pleased until the day I gave birth in Harad. By that point it had become difficult to walk, but it was better than sitting and lying down all day.

"We could get up and walk around if you like," I suggested.

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Just around your rooms. No one will see you but the women who have been tending to you."

"I cannot. I am supposed to stay within my bedchamber."

"Then I will walk with you here. It is certainly large enough."

Vanya sighed. "I can only get up to go to the bathroom or take a bath."

"Then have a bath drawn with the new salts I brought and we will walk in the meantime. It will only be for a few moments, but you will be glad of it." I squeezed her hand. "And I am the Southron Queen. Who is going to argue with me? They fear I may cast a spell on them."

Vanya burst out laughing and pulled herself to her feet with my help.

"Did you feel so awful when you were expecting Adnan?" She asked.

I surveyed her as he moved slowly around the room.

"I was much younger then," I said. I knew that Vanya was a few years older than I and I had been four years younger when Adnan was born. "My body was thinking of doing nothing else," I said with a light laugh.

"Mine is thinking of doing anything but this," she pressed a hand to her incredibly swollen stomach, that strained against her nightgown. "The child constantly moves. I cannot sleep a wink for just when I manage to get somewhat comfortable, the babe does a flip in my womb."

"You body knows what it is doing. It will all be fine," I promised. "We will be celebrating your new arrival soon enough and then you will not be sleeping for a whole other reason."

"I am terrified of bringing our child into the world," she said and as I looked down at her I saw the fear in her light eyes.

I nodded. "It is scary, but women have done it for ages and you will be fine. I am sure you have the best care possible," I said, though the conditions of her chambers made me nervous. It seemed that the Gondorans believed the complete opposite than the women in Harad.

"My lady," a servant called from the bathroom. "Your bath is ready."

"Do not dwell it on it," I urged her. "That will do you no good. Relax and enjoy this peaceful time because it will come to an end soon enough and you will reminisce on the days when you had nothing to do but take baths and read books." I took her robe from her shoulders. "Speaking of a lack of peace, Adnan has sent you all of his love and he is very much looking forward to seeing you soon."

Vanya laughed. "Assure him I feel the same." She gave my hand one more squeeze after I had escorted her into the bathroom. "Thank you for everything, Mareke."

ooooOoooo

I was sitting around my dining table full of men for our Yule dinner. I sat at one head of the table across from Aragorn. Adnan sat to my left and Legolas to my right. Beinion was on Aragorn's right and Gimli on his left.

I felt terrible thinking of Vanya all alone for the holiday celebration, but Aragorn had invited Beinion as he was not allowed to see his wife, no exceptions for even Yule.

Everyone was quite merry and Gimli was recounting the tale of our snowball fight to Beinion.

"The Queen has proven herself to be a worthy opponent," he said, taking a long pull from his mug of ale.

I raised my wine goblet in his direction at his praise.

"That is good to hear," Beinion said. His fair cheeks were pink from all of the ale he had consumed throughout dinner.

Adnan had had a very full day of Yule activies. He had gone with a few of the noblemen's children and given out fruit and baked goods to some citizens of the city and had caroled at every stop. It was a tradition unlike anything I had ever seen, but my son had been too excited about participating that I could not stop it and Aragorn assured me that he would be safe.

I watched my son out of the corner of my eye. He seemed to be dozing off, his cheek propped on his hand.

"Someone had quite the long day, it would seem," Aragorn said from across the table.

Gimli, Legolas, and Beinion all laughed and Adnan jerked awake, looking to me immediately, not sure what was going on.

"Yule has been too much fun, has it not, my son?" I asked him, scooting my chair back and gesturing for him to sit on my lap.

Adnan immediately scrambled from his chair to mine and snuggled against my chest.

"That little lad is all show," Gimli chuckled. "He will sword fight and ride his horse all day long, but at the end of it he still just wants his mother."

I smiled at the Dwarf.

"Not everyone has a mother like Adnan," Aragorn said and my eyes immediately went to him. "He is certainly one of the luckiest little boys I have ever met."

I knew he was just saying what he thought was the right thing to say. The smile he gave me did not reach his gray eyes.

"I believe this little boy needs his bed," I said, standing, trying to balance Adnan. Every day he got bigger. In his drowsy state, he shifted his body and wrapped his legs around my waist and buried his face in my neck.

The men all stood and bowed their heads in my direction.

"I will leave the big boys to their celebrations."

They all murmured their goodnights and I made my way to the nursery.

Adnan did not wake even as I laid him in his bed and stripped him down to his breeches. I gently brought the covers up around his chin to keep him warm through the bitter night.

"Goodnight, habibi," I whispered, kissing his cheek and brushing his curls away from his face. I could have stayed staring down at him all night, but instead I quietly retreated into my sitting room.

I am not sure what made me think that the King might visit me that night, but I stayed up, pouring myself another goblet of wine and picking up the book I had been making some headway with.

It was a religious text and I had previously been enjoying it, but as I sat there for what had to be hours, waiting for Aragorn, I no longer found myself interested in the tale of Orome the hunter discovering the Elves.

The servants came through several times checking on me and stoking the fire, which I stared into, letting the book fall next to me on the sofa.

ooooOoooo

"I am sorry I am so late," Jibran said, entering our sitting room. "I was with your father mapping a few things out."

I watched him as he shed the garb he wore to denote his rank. "Is Adnan asleep?"

"He is," I replied. "He went down without a fight about two hours ago."

"I hate missing him like this," he said quietly. "He is going to forget who I am."

"That would be impossible. Even though he is so young, his eyes only light up for you."

He sat heavily next to me on the low sofa and sank into the plush pillows. "I did not expect you to still be awake."

I gave a shrug and smiled at him, resting my head on his shoulder. One of the servants brought us both glasses of the honey flavored liquor we enjoyed. He settled his heavy arm around me and stroked my exposed upper arm. "What is a bit of lost sleep if I can spend an hour with you?"

He kissed the top of my head.

"Unless of course," I began, my voice lowering a bit. "You would like to go to sleep."

"What is a bit of lost sleep," he mimicked me, "If I can enjoy my wife."

He tilted my head to the side, nibbling at my earlobe and kissing my neck. Jibran took the glass from my hand and set them both down on the floor before pushing me back against the pillows.

I moaned into his mouth as a hand slipped under my top and his knee went between my legs.

When we were through we laid in a tangled mass, his head on my chest. I stroked his long hair as he told me of the training tactics he had come up and how they would be implemented for his men.

I told him of how close Adnan was from rolling from his stomach to his back.

"I am glad you are with him so much, for when I cannot be I still feel as though I am seeing all of his days."

ooooOoooo

"Your Majesty," someone was trying to get my attention. "Your Majesty," they repeated.

I shook my head and pulled myself back into the present to see a servant standing in front of me looking at me curiously.

"Your Majesty, is everything alright?" The woman asked. "Midnight has come and gone long ago."

"I lost track of the time," I said. "I suppose I will retire. I am sorry for alarming you."

The servants always looked rather surprised when I offered them the common courtesy of an apology or thank you. The woman and nodded and exited the room.

I picked up my goblet of wine and tipped the rest of its contents down my throat before heading into my bedchamber. He was not coming.

There you go! I hope you enjoyed this update! Please let me know what you think! Seriously, the reviews, favorites, and follows really make my day and they make me want to get these updates written and posted!

Happy reading,

Avonmora