As you obviously know, this one took me a while to write. Trying to figure out reactions to the last chapter was very difficult so I hope I did a good job, but I'm not sure it came out the way I wanted it to. I'll let you all be the judges on if this was sufficient or not. Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Two (Mareke)
My eyes widened in shock and I struggled away from Baran, though he was practically on top of me.
"What are you doing?" I demanded, getting to my feet unsteadily.
"Mareke." Baran reached for me as he stood as well.
"Do not touch me," I hissed at him. My hands went to my hair and I turned my back, trying to get my thoughts straight.
Finally, I turned. "Would you have ever dared do such a thing if your brother was alive and still my husband?" I asked.
He stared at me blankly.
"Of course you would not have. Your brother would have punished you severely for such a lapse in judgement that would have resulted in besmirching his honor."
Baran continued to look at me in silence.
"What is the difference now?" I demanded.
"That man does not care for you, does not appreciate what he has before him," he finally said. "That is the difference."
It was my turn to stare in silence. I knew that Aragorn and I were not perfectly matched for one another, but we had at least been getting along and there had been that moment of passion while in Harad that I thought was a good sign, but perhaps it looked worse to those outside of our marriage.
"That does not matter," I said. "He is my husband, and the King of Gondor and Arnor, and you are acting against his honor by doing this."
"I care not for his honor," Baran spat. "He is nothing to fear."
I actually laughed. "You are so blind in your arrogance. Do you not know who he is?"
"It does not matter who he is," Baran retorted. "If he wants to confront me about his honor I can promise you that he will come out worse for that encounter."
"You are so wrong, Baran," I said quietly. "He is the ranger that led the armies of the North," I said. "He is not just some pampered King who sat behind his men during the War. He led them."
Baran was silent again, taking in the information I gave him with a dumbfounded look. "It would be no trouble for him to put you in your place over this matter." I continued when Baran had nothing to say. "And if you care nothing for your own well-being, what about mine? What about Harad's? You disrespect the alliance that my father made. The very same alliance that has allowed our people to recover after the War when they could have been struggling and starving."
My hands went into my hair once more. "If you care for me so much why have you put me in this position? I am the Queen of Gondor. If anyone had seen what you just did and told the King, I could be charged with treason. If he wanted to, he could have me hanged in the street."
My heart began pounding at the very thought.
Baran's eyes looked past me, nervously, at the window of my bedroom and my gaze followed his. The curtains were rustling and I knew, somehow, that I had been seen.
"What have you done?" I asked roughly.
I had left Aragorn in my bedroom after putting Adan to bed, saying that I needed bit of fresh air before going to sleep. I knew he was in there and he would be thinking that it had been a lie to come out and share a moment with my brother-in-law, but those had not been my intentions.
"Did you know he saw us?"
Baran looked back at me shamefully and my heart sank.
"Your arrogance and pride could cost Adnan his mother. If the King so desires it, your nephew will have no parents."
"Mareke," Baran began, but I raised a hand to make him stop.
"You have long desired everything your brother had and now you have his position and title. Did you think to have his wife as well? This is not about me. This is about your brother and the jealousy you must still carry even after his death. It has long blinded you, but you have gone too far this time," I sighed, defeated by the entire situation and what I would have to face upon entering my chambers. "Unfortunately, it seems that you must change your way of thinking about me. If this is how you will act then we can longer have our relaxed friendship. You should now treat me as the Queen I am, deserving of your respect."
Without another word, I moved past him and went back into my bedroom. I did not want to put off seeing Aragorn and hopefully being able to explain what had happened. It was already gnawing at me and I could not stand the feeling. I wanted everything in the open.
The door into my private gardens led into my bedroom itself. As I entered, Aragorn was nowhere to be seen in that room so I slowly made my way into the sitting room and found him sitting on one of the low sofas staring into the empty fireplace.
My mouth went dry. I could not make my presence known to him. I did not want to face whatever was going on just below his composed surface. I did not want to seem like a coward though, that I was in the wrong, though of course, technically I was for even being involved in such a scene.
"Aragorn," I said quietly. "I know you saw what just happened."
"Only the beginning," he replied after a minute, still staring ahead of him. "I had no desire to watch the rest unfold."
"There was no more. I put an end to it," I said weakly, heart pounding in my chest.
"Because you wanted to or because someone in your position would be expected to?" He asked, finally turning his gray gaze to me. "It is obvious that you love him."
"Love him?" I spluttered. "No, I do not love Baran."
"To the outsider's gaze it seems so," he said a bit defensively.
"I suppose it may seem that way," I replied, thinking of how much time I had spent with my brother-in-law. "But I can assure you it is not what you think."
"I will not be made a fool of like this, Mareke," he said, standing and facing me.
I shook my head. There was the anger I had feared. "It will not happen again. Though it matters not, I did not ask for his advance."
"Perhaps not, but your young brother-in-law was allowed to think that it was acceptable."
"And I have told him it is not," I replied. "I told him that he must treat me no longer as an old friend, but as the Queen of Gondor and Arnor. I made it clear that he should respect that title and yours of course and he should adhere to the boundaries that come with those titles."
"As should you," Aragorn said shortly.
I bowed my head in deference to him. "You are absolutely right." I waited for him to give some indication of how he would proceed, how I might be punished for my indiscretion, whether I brought it on or not.
"I will have to speak with him," he said quietly. "This cannot be swept under the rug. He has tread on your honor and mine as well. He will learn that he cannot go stealing kisses from whoever's wife he pleases, mine especially."
I looked up once more, slightly pleased by his words. There seemed to be more to his voice than just the propriety demanded of his position. To me it sounded as though there might be a bit of protectiveness there, a bit of pride in having me for a wife.
"I will be with you when you speak to him if you wish, so that he truly understands that I am not interested in such a relationship."
"I think that would be best," he agreed.
ooooOoooo
I sat on the same low sofa that Aragorn had the night before while he paced in front of the empty fireplace, his hands behind his back.
Adnan had been sent off with my mother and father and Aragorn and I were waiting for Baran to appear in my rooms to discuss the events of the night before.
My hands were sweating in my lap. In the back of my mind, I blamed myself for the situation that the three of us were in. Aragorn had been right. I had spent a great deal of time with my brother-in-law upon my return to Harad, but he had been one of the few by my side after Jibran's death. He had been a great help with Adnan on those days, weeks, and months when I did not feel up to the task of caring for him.
I chided myself because I had never realized what he felt for me could be so serious. I had known that he had been rather lovesick over me even when his brother was alive, but he had always craved the life his brother had had, me included. I should never have let myself behave as I had. It only added fuel to his ideas about what our relationship could be.
Finally, the door opened and I jumped. My rooms had been deadly still and silent.
"You wished to see me, Your Majesty?" Baran said, though I noticed he neglected to even bow his head to show his respect to Aragorn.
"I presume you know why you are here," Aragorn said, ignoring the slight. There was an iciness to his voice that I had not heard before.
"I cannot say that I do," he said, mock puzzled.
"Well that is interesting as you and I made eye contact at the very moment you were making advances on my wife last night."
Baran seemed to ponder that for a moment. "I suppose I felt that someone needed to."
My eyes widened in shock at the nerve of my brother-in-law.
Aragorn tensed and finally turned to look at the other man. He had been facing the empty fireplace up until the last remark. "And what exactly are you implying?"
Baran shrugged. "Just that I have not, since your arrival, seen you touch your wife once. I was afraid she would be feeling lonely and dejected. No woman, especially one that is actually attractive in all the ways Mareke is, deserves to be treated as though she is repulsive. I was merely reminding your wife," he emphasized the word your as Aragorn had emphasized the word mine, "that she is desirable and worthy of being appreciated."
My husband was at a loss for words it seemed.
"That is not your place," I said quietly from where I was still sitting.
Baran whipped around to face me.
"And you should not be speaking to the King in such a manner," I continued.
My brother-in-law scoffed. "I do not understand how you defend this man, Mareke."
"There is much you do not understand," I said. "After our stay here, nothing is more clear to me than the fact that you still have some growing to do, that you cannot possibly understand my life, now or before, and you do not understand how grateful you and the rest of the Haradrim should be to King Elessar."
Aragorn was looking at me with raised eyebrows. I could see his face just over Baran's shoulder, who was fuming.
"If I were any other King," Aragorn said, "we would not be having a civilized discussion right now. You might be separated from your head or run through with my own personal blade."
"I wish you would attempt such a thing," Baran said.
"Baran!" I exclaimed.
Aragorn raised a hand in my direction. "I assure you, so do I, but I will refrain because of that woman sitting before us."
I looked up at him curiously.
"You mean something to her. I do not know what history you may have shared during times of grieving, but I can tell that she respects you. Adnan adores you, you are his family. The next time you see that little boy I would thank him. I would thank Mareke as well. She has saved you more than anything by being honest and not urging my hand in your direction to save herself."
"I am at your mercy, Your Majesties,"Baran said bitterly.
I could stand it no longer. "Go," I said sharply. "Remove yourself from my presence. I no longer recognize you."
He looked at me scathingly, but I was sure my look to him was just as fierce.
The door to my chambers slammed behind him and let out the breath I had been holding. "Aragorn, I am so sorry for causing all of this. I should have recognized what my own actions might have caused."
His back was to me once more and he shook his shaggy, graying head. He didn't say a word, but reached for the wood was next to the fireplace, throwing a few pieces in and skillfully lighting it.
"Are you cold?"
"No." The fire blazed to a great height. I could feel its heat on my face, but still Aragorn continued to stand right in front of the flames without saying a word.
In one quick movement, his hand went to his chest and I heard the snapping of metal and saw the flash of the gem he wore as he held it before him.
"I am more to blame than anyone in all of this," he said quietly, so that I could only just hear him over the roaring fire.
"I have neglected to even give you a chance to be yourself. I have been blind, until coming to your home, to the things that make you the woman that you are, the woman that I have found, in these few weeks, to be truly astounding." He was still staring down at his hand and if I craned my neck I could see the glinting jewel.
"I hope at some point you can forgive me for how I have treated you. My stomach is churning at all of the ways I found to ignore you and belittle you and act as though it was some great burden to take you on as my wife, when now I realize that things could have gone much worse for me. You have only added to my life and I realize that I have isolated myself from you in irreparable ways. And I would not deserve it, but I hope that you will forgive me so that I can show you how you have made my life better. I would like to try and make yours better now. I have only treated you as Adnan's mother, but you are my wife and Queen and should be treated as such."
He was silent once more, one hand tucked behind his back, the other still holding the jewel.
"To do that, I must get rid of what has always been between us," he said. With the most subtle flick of his hand, the necklace went soaring into the fire.
"Aragorn!" I exclaimed, lunging toward the fire. I landed on hands and knees, frantically grasping for a tool to pluck the gem from the flames, to save it.
Aragorn grabbed the top of my arm tightly and dragged me away from the flames. "Leave it," he said sternly. I sat there on the floor hopelessly as he walked into the bedroom. I watched for what seemed like mere seconds as the necklace melted and seeped over the ashes.
ooooOoooo
For the first time during our trip, I woke before Aragorn. I could not imagine that he was the type that would sleep in, but there he lay, breathing evenly with his hand behind his head. I slipped out of the bed and began dressing for the day. I pulled my hair on top of my head so that it would be out of the way. I startled and smudged the kohl I was applying to my eye when Aragorn's drowsy voice, broke the silence.
"Are you going somewhere?" He asked.
I turned on the stool I sat on to peer at him. He was rubbing his eyes and there was something youthful in the gesture that I did not often see in my husband.
"I am actually," I began. "I was going to have a couple more tattoos done before we left. Unless of course you are too put off by seeing them."
Aragorn placed his feet on the stone floor. "Not at all. Might I accompany you?"
"Oh." I was a little surprised at the request. "Yes, if you wish to."
"Very good," he said with a gentle smile, going into the bathroom.
I fixed the smudged kohl and finished preparing myself.
"Mama!" Adnan came rushing into my room and he crashed into me. I wrapped him tightly in my arms and inhaled the sweet scent of his sleep. He was still warm from his bed.
"Where are you going?" He buried his face in my neck and I was reminded of when he was so much smaller. Only when he was tired could I get a glimpse of the baby and toddler he had been.
"To show Strider how we get our markings," I said, tracing the sun on the back of his hand.
"Can I come?" He asked, pulling away from me and looking at me expectantly with his large, dark eyes.
"You and Jadda should take Legolas and Gimli swimming instead," I said. "It will take all morning to get new marks. It will be quite boring."
Adnan sighed. "Alright."
"You are such a good boy." I put my nose into his hair as Aragorn came back out, dressed for the day. He had quickly learned that his heavy clothes from Gondor would not do him much good in Harad and had adopted the light linens that we wore, though not as revealing. However, some of his chest showed and it looked naked without the necklace he had worn for the first year of our marriage. Neither of us had spoken of the incident with the fire.
"Well good morning," he said to Adnan who was grinning up at him. My son was easily lifted from my lap and hoisted into the air before Aragorn brought him back to his hip.
"I am taking Legolas and Gimli swimming," he said excitedly.
"Be careful, I am not so certain that the Dwarf can swim," Aragorn said with a conspiratorial grin. "You may have to teach him."
"I am an excellent swimmer," Adnan said proudly. "I can help Gimli."
"Your modesty always makes me feel as though I am a successful mother," I said with a shake of my head.
Adnan just gave a shrug as Aragorn laughed and set him back down.
"Better go change," I said, nudging him toward the door. "You Jadda will be here soon. We will see you at lunch."
My mother poked her head into the open bedroom door and I merely pointed her toward the nursery. "He is already excited for the day," I warned her. "You will have your hands full."
She gave me a knowing smile and went to find her grandson.
Aragorn offered me an arm and we set off into the city. The man who did the royal and noble tattoos was not too far outside of the palace walls, but it was enough time for the people to rush to me and offer more flowers and trinkets.
"What do you do with all of those things?" Aragorn asked.
I shrugged. "I try to put the flowers in water when I can and I have a trunk full of everything else I have been given. Some I have displayed in my rooms. Perhaps a few of these I will take back to Minas Tirith with me."
He nodded and I led him into the large house where the markings were done.
A woman greeted both of us with a curtsy and she spoke to me in our language. Not many knew Sindarin, so I had to translate, though she was just leading through the house and into the room where the man was preparing his tools.
I sat and we discussed what I would be having done before he helped me onto the firm table, where I laid on my stomach.
"I am having the markings done for a queen on my right shoulder blade," I told Aragorn who had taken a seat in the corner and was watching curiously.
"Is that where it must be put?" He asked.
"No." The man was rubbing the spot with a cleansing mixture before wiping it away with cold water. "At some point it becomes about where you have the space."
I closed my eyes and bit the inside of my cheek as the man began the etching process. Repeatedly, a sharpened piece of mumak tusk was poked into my skin in the design that I wanted. It took nearly two hours to poke my skin the sufficient amount of times before the ink could be applied.
"Does that hurt?" Aragorn asked. I opened my eyes to see that he was looking on with almost horror on his face.
"I have experienced things both more pleasant and more painful. It is not exactly the best way I could think to spend my morning."
"When do you start getting these marks?" He asked. "Adnan already has one."
I nodded, trying not to move my body too much. "All infants are given one to represent their house or family. It is for emergencies more than anything. If a child were to get lost or go missing it would be easy to identify them. We receive those marks three days after birth. Of course, the infant is given something to help them sleep through the process. After that," I explained, "we wait until we are twelve to get our birthday markings." I gently raised my wrist that had my birthday rings.
Finally, the symbol on my back was done and I sat up, legs dangling off the table, using a mirror to examine the circle that sat on two prongs that almost looked like cow horns. It was still bleeding a little bit, but the man wiped away a bit of it before going to work on my twenty-fourth year marking. It took much less time, but was still rather painful.
"I would like to get one," Aragorn said, watching the man bent over my arm, turning it so that he could poke my skin all the way around.
"What?"
"I would like to get a tattoo," he repeated himself, looking up at me.
"You cannot be serious," I said.
"Of course I am," he replied.
"Aragorn, what if someone in Minas Tirith saw it?" I asked. "What would the people think if they heard of such a thing?"
"Most likely that I have lost my mind or become some type of barbarian through our marriage," he said grinning at me, though I could not find the humor. "But I am almost positive that they already think that about me, so what is the harm, Mareke?"
I sighed. "You are the King. I cannot tell you no." The man wiped the blood from my arm once more and I stood from the table.
"Exactly," Aragorn said, passing me and taking my place on the table as I sat in a chair. "And so I should like to have the symbol for King." He pulled up his right sleeve and turned his arm over to expose the paler, more sensitive flesh on the under side of his forearm.
"That is going to hurt there," I warned him.
Aragorn just gave a shrug. He smiled at the man who was staring at him, bewildered to have the King of Gondor sitting on his tattoo table.
I quickly explained what Aragorn wanted, but the man wanted me to make sure that he was positive.
"You are really going to do this?" I asked.
"Absolutely," he said with a firm nod.
"Very well." I conveyed as much to the man and he went on with the marking.
Aragorn winced at the first contact of the needle with his skin. I watched as his blood made little pools on his arm as the scepter of our people, with a slight curved variation at the bottom I imagined to distinguish that he was not a King of Harad, was etched onto his skin.
"I must admit I do not know how you cover your body in these," he said, through a clenched jaw.
His did not take very long, but he looked at it admiringly when it was finished.
We made it back to the palace just in time for lunch to be served and we took it semi-privately in my chambers with my parents, Adnan, Legolas, and Gimli. All three of the latter had wet hair.
"That little lad is part fish I am sure of it," Gimli told me as I sat across from him.
"I am aware. How much trouble did you have getting him out of the pool?"
"It was Gimli that we could not remove from the water," Legolas said with a smile. "Once Adnan had taught him how to swim, he did not want to stop."
I laughed out loud and gave the Dwarf a smile. "It is quite refreshing."
"Well it was the coolest I have felt since coming to this desert," he grumbled and everyone laughed.
"Let me see your new marks, Mama," Adnan demanded.
"Please," I chided gently, but I turned so that he could see the mark on my shoulder blade and then held out my arm that had an additional, simple ring.
"And you, Aragorn," my father said with a jesting grin. "Did you get one?" It was clear that he thought he knew the answer.
Aragorn pulled his sleeve up and brandished his new tattoo proudly, which resulted in wide eyes and no words.
ooooOoooo
Another few days passed and we were drawing near to the end of our visit. Once more we were seated for dinner with my parents and Legolas and Gimli. We were all chatting about that day's swimming and excursion to see the baby mumakil.
Baran came bursting into the room and I inwardly groaned, however he looked distraught and came directly to my side, kneeling so he could speak quietly to me.
"You will not be served tonight," he said. "One of the plates that was on its way here was poisoned, presumably meant for Adnan."
"What?" I demanded. "How do you know this?"
A hush had fallen on the table at my outburst.
"I have been having someone test the food that has been meant for any of you," he said, loud enough for all to hear. "A servant died tonight."
My hand went to my throat and there was a roaring in my ears. Just then I could not think of the person who had given their life for my son's. Immediately, I turned to my father.
"You promised he would be safe here!"
"Mareke," he began, understanding of the situation making his eyes frantic. He turned to Baran. My mother rushed around the table and pulled me into her arms.
I pushed her away as Adnan began crying, confused and frightened by the dramatic reactions of the adults.
"Have Na'man taken into your custody," my father told Baran.
"No!" I exclaimed. "We cannot act as though we even know of his attempt. If he knows he has failed, he will make a more lethal move. He will be sure to succeed." I hauled Adnan onto my hip and smoothed his curls, murmuring in our language into his ear.
I headed for my bedroom, leaving everyone astounded behind me. "We do nothing. Except prepare ourselves to leave as soon as the sun has set."
Aragorn followed me into the bedroom. "You cannot just let your brother get away with this, Mareke," he said, pacing around.
"And what do you suggest?"
He turned to me and there was a wild look in his eyes. Adnan's body was still heaving in my arms. "I suggest I slit his throat. How a man could do such a thing is beyond me!"
"You do not understand, Aragorn," I felt my own eyes prickling with tears. "No matter how much I want him dead, I want to keep my son with me even more than that."
"But this is terrible! He tried to kill our son! I could murder him with my bare hands!"
He had never said 'our' before. I knew that he adored Adnan, but I did not know to such an extent that he considered him his own blood. If it had been under a different circumstance, I would have hugged him, but it was not simple times.
My own voice rose over his. "And if you did that then I would have to leave my son behind to learn how to rule Harad! He is not yet five, Aragorn!"
My husband deflated at that reasoning. "Very well." He strode toward us and rested a hand on Adnan's back and my cheek, swiping his thumb to catch my tears. I found myself learning into his warm touch.
"I would give my life for his," he murmured, pulling me close against his chest.
I really hope this came out at least okay. I don't think I've ever written a more difficult chapter in any of my stories. I'd love to know what you all think. I had a ton of reviews for the last chapter. It either tied for most or beat it, I can't remember, but please keep it up. I am loving all of your opinions and ideas!
Happy reading,
Avonmora