I am atoning for the sin of waiting so long to update with a rapid fire installment. I hope you love this chapter!
Chapter Forty-Eight (Aragorn)
Throughout my long life, my steps had been haunted by many things, but I was still not prepared for what happened to me after Adnan's birthday celebration.
Mareke was on a mission to conceive a child after being around the infant Brennil and the expecting Lady of Ithilien.
It seemed there was nowhere I could hide from her. She found me at all hours of the day, interrupted whatever I was doing and seemed to not care at all how tired or uninterested I was when I returned to our rooms at night.
My heart broke at the desperation in her eyes and her actions. I had apologized for my behavior toward her on the night of Adnan's celebration and that had seemingly opened the floodgates of her further attempts.
I understood how badly she wanted another child. I understood how unjust she felt the world was being. I felt the same. Despite the words I offered her of comfort and love and knowing our lives would be happy with our two boys, I was plagued by the fact that we could not have another when those around us were seemingly having no issues.
Perhaps it was just that I was older and wiser, but I knew I could be content with what we had been given. Mareke faced the latest transgressions from the universe with a fierceness and determination I was not sure I could match.
One afternoon, Beinion was sitting across from me in my study discussing what he had just learned from the merchants who had begun to sell more products from Harad and Rohan as we had arranged with King Hashad and Eomer-King.
"Surprisingly, the silks, spices and perfumes are selling extremely fast. They have had to raise prices so as not to run out of material before the next shipment can arrive next month."
I raised my eyebrows and nodded. "That is rather unexpected, but I am glad to hear it."
"The work horses from Rohan were sold at a public auction and you would not believe how much some of your new nobles paid for them."
I had to chuckle. "They are unaccustomed to the money, but at least they are going to use it for labor purposes."
"Indeed," Beinion agreed.
Without knocking, Mareke entered my study and I groaned inwardly.
"Your Majesty." Beinion stood and bowed to my wife. "I was just telling your husband how well your Haradrim goods are doing in our market."
Mareke offered him a smile. "That is wonderful news." She looked pointedly at me. "Would you mind if I took some of my husband's time?"
Before Beinion could speak, I interjected. "I am not sure we were done. Beinion probably has much more to report on."
"Nonsense. I cannot deprive the Queen of her husband. What I have can wait."
When Beinion departed and closed the door behind him, I looked at Mareke. "My love, you cannot just send my counselors on their way. We were discussing important matters."
She waved my words away. "I have an important matter as well," she said, coming around the desk.
I turned my chair so I was facing her. I knew if I did not say anything and just got it over with that it would be over all the quicker.
What had once been the most intimate of acts between us had quickly lost its sensualness and pleasure. I quickly untied my breeches and Mareke bunched her heavy dress around her waist before climbing onto my lap.
There was a moment of discomfort as neither of us were prepared for the act, but Mareke did not let that deter her. Soon enough she was rocking against my hips.
It was a wonder the act could even come to fruition as most weeks she sought me out daily if not more frequently.
That particular union took a frustratingly long time. I tried to think of the times we had made love, lying down in our bed, actually enjoying one another. Eventually, it worked and Mareke climbed off of me and headed back into her own day. She barely kissed my cheek before she was gone once more.
I sat at my desk with my head in my hands for several minutes before going into the adjoining restroom to freshen up. I had a full afternoon before me, but the coupling had left me in a foul mood.
"Can I get you anything, Your Majesty?" Duinhir asked. The boy always came in around midafternoon to check on me.
"No, Duinhir," I snapped.
"Yes, Your Majesty," he said, taken aback, bowing himself out of the door.
I sighed and ran my hands roughly through my hair. I gave myself another few moments before settling back into working on a large stack of documents that needed my approval.
The weather was growing colder and the sun was setting earlier, so I usually tried to finish my work at a reasonable hour so I could see the boys before my youngest went to bed. When I entered our chambers, I did not find anyone in the sitting room, nursery, Mareke's study or the bedroom.
As I moved through the bedchambers, I could hear giggling coming from our private gardens and so I followed the sound until I found the source.
Mareke was dipping Shuk's feet into the cold water of the fountain and then bringing him back close to her to nibble on his neck. He squealed in delight. When she stopped and he caught his breath, he wanted to walk around the edge of the fountain and so Mareke held his hand and they both laughed as he wobbled on the narrow edge. Duma trailed close behind them seemingly more nervous than Mareke.
A part of me hated myself for thinking so negatively about the drastic attempts my wife was making to create another child. She was a wonderful mother. Every time I saw her with one or both of the boys I was reminded of it. I would never understand how she was able to tend to them both with such patience and kindness. Neither of them laughed with anyone else the way they did with her when she was being silly and playing with them.
I loved nothing more than to see her with our sons and I knew she could have juggled ten more. In those moments, I wondered what we had done to deserve this time of limbo, waiting to see if we would be successful in having at least one more.
It had been roughly four months since Adnan's birthday celebration when Mareke had become nearly crazed with trying to conceive. Every month I knew she waited with baited breath to see if we had been successful. Each month, when nothing came to pass, she spent a couple of days absolutely heartbroken and dejected before she subjected the both of us to a grueling few days of trying again.
"Papa!" Shuk's voice broke me out of my reverie.
"You should make your presence known," Mareke said when she looked up and found me in the shadows of the path.
"I was enjoying watching you both," I replied. Despite my earlier irritation, I went to her and pressed a kiss to her forehead before swinging Shuk onto my shoulders. "Come inside and warm up, little one. Your mother still does not understand how this cold weather works," I jested. With one hand, I held Shuk in place and with the other I pulled Mareke close by her waist.
"Dinner was being laid out when I came in," I said. "Are you hungry, Shuk?"
"Yes!" He batted his hands on the top of my head and I chuckled.
As we made our way into the dining room, Adnan was coming in from a lesson with Gimli. He was chatting animatedly to the Dwarf.
"Join us, Master Dwarf," Mareke said warmly.
"I do not take much convincing," he said with a laugh.
Adnan sat down between his mother and Gimli and they began explaining the lesson from which he had come.
My attention was taken by Shuk who was immediately reaching for everything on the table, trying to stuff bread and cheese and meat into his greedy mouth. His little hands were hard to restrain as his body wiggled uncontrollably. He giggled with his mouth full when I was occasionally unable to stop him.
"Just let me help you," I grumbled. I remembered the days when Shuk had wanted no one but his mother. I wondered if I had been too hasty in wanting to be included in his affections.
As I was struggling to feed Shuk in a regulated manner, let alone myself, the other three were getting louder and louder.
Gimli said something that I did not quite catch and Adnan laughed wildly. I looked up just in time to see Mareke cover her mouth with her hands and wine spill out, which caused Adnan to laugh even harder.
Gimli looked over at me and shrugged. "I was just giving a history lesson."
Mareke's face was flushed when she could pull her hands away to mop at her face and dress with a napkin. "You have ruined my dress, Master Dwarf," she was still laughing though and then she started laughing harder looking down at her dress and the wine that had spilled on the tablecloth.
"Mother!" Adnan exclaimed, joining her in the giggling fit.
When they finally gathered themselves, Mareke wiped at her eyes and reached across the table for Shuk. "I am going to put this one to bed and then retire myself before I can make more of a mess." She bent over and kissed Adnan's cheek causing him to flush. "Not too late."
I stood and kissed her gently before she went to the nursery. "Now what was the history lesson?" I asked, when the door to the nursery was closed.
ooooOoooo
I had approached Mareke about planning her birthday about a month in advance, but it was in those few awful days when she realized we had not been successful in the past month of attempting to conceive.
"Could it just be the four of us?" she asked from where she was lying on the sofa in the sitting room with a goblet of wine. The boys had long been asleep.
"There is nothing that would cheer you?"
She looked at me over the rim of her goblet. I lifted her feet and sat down, laying them in my lap. She closed her eyes when I began to rub her dark, bare feet.
"I do not want to see anyone, Aragorn," she said quietly. "I cannot do that again right now."
"I understand," I murmured.
ooooOoooo
And so her birthday passed with minimal fanfare. The boys and I brought her breakfast in bed and we all spent the day together, but other than that it was a day like any other.
Mareke's last days of melancholy and the break in attempting to conceive lasted longer than usual. I watched her carefully, but she seemed her usual self, if not a little subdued.
I wondered if she was beginning to give up. It had been nearly two years since we had conceived.
She was as warm as ever with the boys, but she ate little and wanted to retire early. However, when we were in bed she did not reach for me and for the first time in months I found myself going to her, though she turned away.
"I am not up for it," she said with a sigh.
"My love," I said into her curls, wrapping her tightly in my arms and pulling her against my chest.
My wife did not say a word, nor did she move.
ooooOoooo
That fall in Minas Tirith was quite busy and so before we knew it, the snows had begun falling and we were nearing Shuk's third birthday.
In the fall, we had been consumed with handling the Haradrim and Rohirric trades and making sure that crops from Gondor and Rohan made their way to Harad and the newer settlements in Arnor. It had been a success and I was grateful, but it had been a whirlwind.
A few weeks before Shuk's birthday, Mareke and I were headed to a council meeting to discuss the entire process and how it might be improved in the following years.
I paused before we entered the chamber. "Are you alright, Mareke? You do not seem yourself."
She squeezed my arm. "I am fine," she said with a small smile.
I looked her over once more before leading her into the chamber. The entire council was gathered and they all stood and bowed. "Your Majesties."
I pulled Mareke's chair out for her and then took my seat at the head of the table.
We dove into the meeting. I was pleased to see that the new council members were excited and passionate about the progress the last harvest had brought to Gondor and the other Realms. However, there were many suggestions of how it could go more smoothly. I was glad to hear them, but the meeting was going to consume an entire afternoon.
At one point, I glanced at Mareke and she had gone quite pale and she seemed to be wringing her hands in her lap.
One of the young councilors was leading the discussion on how the crops could be divided and sent on their way more efficiently.
"Your Majesty?" His brows furrowed when he glanced at Mareke. She had stood abruptly and clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Excuse me," she managed to get out before she had rushed from the room and into the corridor.
I had never seen her move so fast and by the time I had followed her and closed the door, she was nowhere to be seen. Then I heard retching and followed it to the nearby narrow servants' corridor and followed it to find Mareke bent over, bracing herself on the wall.
"Are you alright?" I asked her, rubbing her back as she straightened. She wiped at her mouth and turned to face me. I pulled her into my arms and she rested her forehead on my chest.
"I am with child," she said quietly.
I took her face in my hands and forced her to look up at me, unable to suppress the grin on my face. "How long have you known?"
She was smiling up at me. "Two months. I wanted to be sure and not get anyone's hopes up."
"Mareke," I breathed her name. "I am so happy."
"I am sorry for everything I put you through. I realize that I was quite unbearable."
"Do not ever apologize to me. Especially right now. This is a joyous occasion." I pressed my forehead to hers and felt tears rolling down my cheeks.
After a long moment, Mareke pulled away. "Make my apologies to the council," she said quietly, stroking my hair. "I am going to lie down and freshen up and then we can talk more this evening.
"Alright," I murmured. I kissed her forehead once more and sent her on her way.
ooooOoooo
A few weeks later, we were preparing to go to Shuk's birthday feast. Mareke still wasn't feeling well. She had not been able to eat much and to my knowledge she had been sick just about every day. It made it difficult to celebrate the fact that we were to have another child when she was feeling unwell. I hoped it would pass sooner rather than later and then we might be able to enjoy the knowledge that our deepest desire had finally been granted.
I had left the boys to prepare for the feast with Lady Belethiel and entered our bedchambers to find Mareke sitting at her vanity while Lady Ioreth braided her hair into a tight bun. Drawing her hair away from her face made her look even more pale and drawn.
"Can we remedy that?" Mareke asked, gesturing to her face.
"You look lovely," I assured her, going to sit in a chair in the corner of the room.
"We do not have to do the mock flattery," she said with a light laugh.
Lady Ioreth went to work with the pots and jars of makeup Mareke had not utilized since she first arrived in Minas Tirith. I sat back and watched silently as some color was brought back to my wife's face.
"That is better than it was," Mareke said. "Thank you, Lady Ioreth."
The older woman nodded and went to Mareke's wardrobe and returned with a deep violet dress.
"I will help her with that," I said, standing.
Lady Ioreth gave me a curious look and then turned to Mareke who shrugged. "As you wish," the older woman said.
Mareke slipped from her robe leaving her only in her floor length shift. Before I lifted her gown, I placed my hands low on her stomach where the tiniest of bumps had begun to show. "It is early to see the child, is it not?"
"Very early," she agreed. "Perhaps it is because it is not the first."
I gently kissed her neck and then lifted the gown, helping Mareke find her way through the many layers before it was settled around her. Luckily, the sheer size of the gown hid the bump. It was far too early to tell anyone else besides Lady Ioreth and Miriel, the healer who had cared for Mareke after Shuk's treacherous delivery.
She surveyed herself in the mirror for a moment, but then held onto my arm.
"Are you alright?" I placed my hands on her hips. "If you do not feel up to this I can conjure some excuse," I offered.
Mareke shook her head. "I was just a bit dizzy. I will survive a few hours for our son's birthday."
My brow furrowed. Mareke had not once been ill with Shuk. In fact, she had been almost vibrant if only a bit fatigued at the very beginning. "Were you like this with Adnan?" I asked.
Again, she shook her head. "I had an easier time with Adnan than I did with Shuk and that is saying something."
"Perhaps you should see Miriel again soon. I am worried about you."
"Perhaps," she agreed.
Once she had gathered herself as best she could, we fetched the boys and made our way to the hall. Seeing as Shuk was the Crown Prince, his festivities were on a much grander scale than Adnan's. We were back in the largest hall of Minas Tirith and every member of the nobility was there.
We promptly took our seats so Mareke could get off her feet and that is where we stayed most of the night.
Several of the newer members of the council approached us to talk, but we did not mingle as we usually did, nor did we dance. Music floated in the background, but there was no designated dancing as we did not open the floor. It was our right, but we had rarely done such a thing.
"I need to leave," Mareke said abruptly.
I glanced over at her and saw that she was staring off to the right. Immediately, I knew why she needed to leave.
Vanya was on her way toward us.
"She will question me and I do not have the energy to lie to her. If she knows, she will be elated and the secret will be out."
I stood quickly and offered her my arm. Shuk was with Lady Belethiel and she came toward us.
"I will take him," I said. "Please see that Adnan makes it to bed at a decent hour."
Without another word, Mareke and I left the hall. Once our chamber door was closed behind us we looked at each and laughed.
I made my way to the nursery to put Shuk to bed. I lingered a while after he had dozed off in his bed, stroking his wild curls away from his face. Chuckling to myself, I thought of how he would be as an older brother. He had been a very spoiled only child for a few years and even if he had grown in some ways he still clung to his mother now and then.
When I made my way back into our bedchambers, Mareke was practically falling into our bed, exhausted from the festivities even though they had been rather calm compared to what they usually were.
I stripped out of my clothes and met her in the middle of the bed, holding her close.
"Did Miriel tell you when the baby will be here?" I asked quietly.
"I can count well enough. It should be next July," she responded drowsily.
"We are supposed to take Adnan to Harad in June."
Mareke was silent for a moment. "Are you concerned that they may not be born here?"
"Why would they not be born here?" I asked. "You cannot travel to Harad right before you are due to give birth."
"The alternative is to ship Adnan off without me? To send him away when we will never live together again?" Mareke had propped herself up on one elbow and was peering down at me in the candlelight.
"You cannot travel all the way to Harad that near to your time," I said. "That would be unwise."
"I could go earlier than intended."
"Let us not get ahead of ourselves. I should not have brought it up. We have time to come to a solution."
Mareke looked down at me for a moment longer before settling once more at my side.
There you have it! Not much to say except I can't wait to hear your thoughts.
Also, and this might be nuts, but I've already come up with another fic for Mareke and Adnan. I realize most people don't write their OCs over and over again in completely different scenarios, but this popped into my head and it is driving me crazy trying to get onto paper so to speak. I realize it might be confusing, so I may just work on it on and publish it later if that's the consensus.
Happy reading,
Avonmora