I really don't know where the idea came from for this update, but I'm happy about it. I'll admit it made me nervous to write, but I hope you all love it as much as I do.
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Chapter Sixty-One (Shuk)
Seven Years Later
"Heaven help me, I am not made for the sea," Rainion said, drooping next to me over the railing of the boat on which we were sailing.
"How would you know?" I asked. "This is a river."
His twin, my other brother, Rilien, had taken so ill on the river portion of our trip to Harad that he could not even come above deck.
As the twins had gotten older, their seasickness had only gotten worse.
"Serves them right," my mother had said on a journey past. "For how ill they made me while I carried them."
I smiled at her thinking back to the very same journey we had undertaken when returning Adnan to his motherland. My mother had been heavily pregnant with the twins, but too stubborn to stay in Minas Tirith while her eldest was transported home.
Rainion rolled his eyes at me. The fresh air was doing him some good as he looked rather less green around the gills than he had earlier that day.
"We are doing all of this for a baby," he rolled his eyes.
"The heir of Harad," I corrected once more.
Our eldest brother and his wife had struggled, once they were married, to produce the much needed heir. Miraculously, five years after their wedding, my family and Marilla's were traveling south to Harad to meet the new Crown Prince.
"And someday we will have to do all of this nonsense for your children," I continued.
"Yes, well luckily, it will not require a boat," my brother leaned over the railing, heaving and retching, though nothing was expunged from his body.
"You would think that you two would learn that overindulging the night before these trips does nothing to help your weak constitutions," I rolled my eyes.
Rainion straightened and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "If you ever bothered to have any fun, Shuk, you might understand."
Before I could retort, our mother joined us at the railing.
"Rainion, my love, why do you not go into the galley and see if they have any ginger or mint. You know it would help if you put it in a tea. Take some to your ailing twin," she instructed.
My brother sighed and tried to regain his dignity before he did as Mother bid him.
"Are you feeling alright, Shuk?"
Though I was twenty and two and towered over her, she reached up and smoothed my hair away from my face. A few curls had come loose from their binding in the wind coming off the river.
"I am fine, Mother. I am not afflicted as they are."
"Well I am glad for that."
We stood side by side in amicable silence, watching the riverbank pass us by as we headed south to the port at Pelargir where we would continue our journey on horseback.
I could sense that my mother was anxious. Adnan and Marilla had not made the trip to Minas Tirith at Yule as was their custom. After waiting so long and trying so hard for a child, they did not want to jeopardize their success with a long trip. And so it had been almost a year since Mother had seen her eldest and I knew she was dying to meet her first grandchild.
She could have had several by that time, but I had not yet secured my own marriage and the twins were too busy running around, going on border raids and chasing women to settle down in the ties of matrimony.
We both glanced over our shoulder as the clanking of metal grew louder and louder.
"Do not turn your back!" Father laughed, whacking Gilraen's rump with the flat side of his sword.
My scamp of a little sister turned to glare at him, rubbing her backside, cheeks reddening. Her tiny chest was heaving as she caught her breath.
"Oh come now," Father chided, knocking her practice blade, drooping by her side, with his.
"I fear there is a tantrum brewing," Mother whispered.
Gilraen threw her sword down and stomped towards the stairs that would take her below deck to her berth.
Father looked at Mother sheepishly.
"She is a creature entirely of your creation," she said when he joined us.
"I did not hit her hard," he insisted.
"Be that as it may, she did not like it. And you have led her to believe that everything in her life should be exactly as she likes it," Mother laughed lightly.
"Well I learned from you and Shuk," Father shot back.
I had to laugh. It was still quite obvious that my mother spoiled me even though I was a man grown.
"Are you going to check on your daughter?" Mother asked, looking at Father.
"Oh absolutely not. She will be a perfect terror right now. I thought you might do it."
Mother shook her head. In unison, they looked at me.
I sighed. "Fine."
Without another word, I made my way below deck and to the berth my sister was sharing with her governess, Lady Menneth.
My mother had hoped to have Lady Belethiel back when Gilraen had been born, but the woman had insisted that she was retired. I imagine one had to take a long break after dealing with the twins for so long.
"Your Royal Highness," Lady Menneth said as I came through the door, curtsying to me.
I smiled at the woman. She was gentle with my sister, but could be as strong as steel as well. Gilraen was used to having the King of Gondor and Arnor wrapped around her finger, but Lady Menneth knew when to put the little girl in her place.
"Would you leave us, Lady Menneth?"
The older woman gave another curtsy and then left my sister's room.
"Are you alright?" I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed that was tucked into the wall of the cabin.
"I am fine," she insisted.
Gilraen looked like all the rest of us, if not a little more wild. Her curls were all over the place from her swordplay and there were smudges of who knew what on her tunic and breeches.
Father adored his youngest and I wondered if it was because she reminded him of Mother the most out of the five of us.
"You should just hit him back," I suggested.
"Easy for you to say, Shuk," she retorted. "You do not practice with him."
I laughed. "Well of course I do not. Do you think I want to be whacked all about like that?"
Gilraen tried to hide her smile, attempting to maintain her state of injured dignity.
"He would not hit your behind, surely."
"I do not want to find out."
Gilraen was lighting up with her mirth. "So I am braver than you."
"Oh quite, little sister. I am an utter coward."
Gilraen hoisted herself into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. "I still love you, Shuk."
"What are you buttering me up for now?" I asked, knowing her tricks quite well. She had learned very early to use the age difference between all of her brothers and herself to her advantage. Even the twins could not often say no to her.
"I thought we could go see if there are sweets in the galley," she suggested sweetly.
"Awfully close to dinner, is it not?"
Gilraen shrugged innocently. "I have no idea what time it is."
"When we both get into trouble, I hope you can get us out of it," I said, setting her lightly on her feet and standing behind her.
She tucked her small, warm hand into mine and pulled me behind her, stealthy as a cat.
ooooOoooo
A little over a week later, our party rode up to the palace where my brother had made his home so many years ago and that I had visited just about yearly since then.
Adnan was waiting to greet us as we made our way from the stables. It was still rather jarring to not be greeted by our grandmother, but she had passed two years earlier. My brother's uncle, Baran, was normally nowhere in sight when we visited.
All in our party greeted him respectfully, but it was obvious that Vanya and my mother were anxious to get inside to see Marilla and their grandchild.
The babe had been born a few short weeks before our arrival. The trip had been planned when Beinion and his family had returned from Harad after Yule. They could not be separated from their daughter for long, but the festivities had held my mother in Minas Tirith, though she had desperately wanted to be with Adnan.
"Brother," Adnan offered me a warm smile as we clasped forearms in greeting. "It is good to see you."
"Congratulations," I replied with a genuine smile.
While the twins and I all looked very similar, there was something different about our eldest brother. Obviously, his hair and skin were darker. He was broader through the chest and shoulders, more muscular and in his face there were hints of a man I had never known.
"Thank you." Adnan glanced over my shoulder at Mother and Vanya. "I should get them inside before they mount a full offensive."
"I think that would be very wise," Aragorn said as he joined us.
Adnan broke into a huge grin and the two men hugged each other tightly, pounding the other's back.
I had always felt outside of such camaraderie. My father showed it so easily to his sons and to most of the men in his life, but I had always felt awkward even with him.
"There are refreshments in your chambers," Adnan said, offering Mother his arm. "Marilla has requested that you all wash your travels away before meeting the babe."
"Of course, of course."
"I will fetch you all in half an hour," Adnan promised. He deposited us at the rooms we had always shared and then led Beinion, Vanya, and Brennil to theirs.
As soon as the door closed, Mother rushed off to freshen up.
"You have to wait the half hour regardless," Rilien called to her back as he threw himself on one of the low sofas.
"I would watch yourself," Father warned, taking a seat across from Rilien.
"You need a bath most of all," Rainion said to Gilraen, who had taken herself first to the laden down dining table.
She scowled at him as she popped a piece of cinnamon bread in her mouth. "Perhaps you should look in a mirror."
I snickered. Our six-year-old sister, while capable of playing very sweet to get what she wanted, could also be mean as the snakes that wound their way through the dunes of our mother's home.
"Although a mirror will not tell you how bad you smell," she continued.
"Brat!" Rainion lunged for Gilraen, who leapt deftly onto the sofa next to Father.
"She is a child," Father laughed.
Gilraen was sticking her tongue out at Rainion from where she stood behind her protector's shoulder.
A moment later, Mother poked her head out of their bedroom door. "Come here, Gilraen," she said.
My sister groaned and looked to Father.
"I cannot save you," he apologized.
"Your mother will want us all to go, so I suggest the three of you clean up as well," Father said, getting back to his feet.
Rilien gave a great sigh, before rolling off the sofa and standing up as well. The twins went into the room they normally shared and I made my way to mine.
Being in Harad never stopped being jarring, despite how many times I had visited my brother. The heat alone was enough to wilt me, but then there were the colors and textures inside the palace, the pounding music when there were celebrations, the cool pools for our refreshment, and the spicy food.
I went into the lavatory and stripped from my riding clothes that were covered in dust. The tub had been filled with lukewarm water and I sank into it gratefully.
Carefully, I dumped a jar of epsom salt into the bath. It had been nearly a year since I had been so long on horseback and my muscles ached.
Unlike my father and siblings, I was happier in a study or garden or library. The rigors of living a soldier's life did not appeal to me greatly.
A while later, I emerged to find the rest of my family in the sitting room, freshened up and ready to meet the new addition. Mother was sitting on the edge of the sofa, knee bouncing anxiously. Gilraen had been stuffed into a dress and was pulling at it miserably next to Mother.
Luckily, we had only to wait a few more moments before we were summoned to the King's chambers.
Vanya, Beinion, and Brennil were already waiting in the sitting room while the young family was cloistered in their bedchamber.
"You must go first, Vanya," Mother said, though I could clearly see it pained her to do so. "It is customary as you are the mother's mother."
"We could not possibly supersede you," Beinion insisted.
"Go," Father urged. "Before she changes her mind."
Vanya and Beinion bowed their heads briefly before leading Brennil in to meet Marilla's child.
"This is torture," Mother sighed, pacing back and forth.
"Hush," Father chuckled, snatching one of her arms and pulling her snugly to his chest. "You are like one of the caged cats here."
Mother wrapped her arms around his middle and looked up into his face with a smile. Father brushed an unruly curl away from her face with the utmost care and then kissed her softly on the lips.
It was not unusual to be in my parents' presence when they forgot everyone around them. Even with Gilraen hanging about his waist, Father only had eyes for Mother. It was a wonder to see how they still interacted with each even after twenty-five years of marriage.
I glanced over at my twin brothers, but they had their heads bent together, as was often the case, staring hungrily after one of the Haradrim ladies-in-waiting to Marilla. I had not even noticed the woman and once again my stomach plummeted thinking of the differences between my siblings and I.
We waited for a quarter of an hour before Beinion and his wife and youngest daughter emerged from the room.
They gave my parents excited smiles and I wondered if they were not hiding a secret. "He is perfect," Vanya gushed.
We had all known that the child was the much needed heir, but the couple would not share his name until we were with them in person.
Once the doorway was clear, my mother went flying into the bedchamber, leaving the rest of us to jostle our way through.
Marilla was sitting on a low sofa, her hands wrapped around a glass of fruit juice. Father waved her off as she went to rise and pay her obeisances. "No, no, my dear. Enjoy your triumph from there." He smiled warmly.
Adnan walked toward us all with a bundle in his arms, but instead of handing the bundle to Mother, he turned instead to Father.
My mother was positively affronted for a moment, but then she moved the blanket away and looked at her grandson.
"He is perfect," Father said, not taking his eyes off the babe.
"What is his name?" Mother asked, stroking the back of her fingers over the plump, dark cheek that was exposed.
Adnan looked to my father. "Jibran Estel," he said quietly, choking back some emotion. "I hope that was not too presumptuous of me."
"Oh great," Rainion muttered behind me. "Now what are the rest of us supposed to do to please him?"
"Hush," Mother snapped.
"Oh my," Father whispered, still not taking his eyes from his namesake. "Not presumptuous at all," he finally managed to get out, a tear rolling down his cheek. "Jibran Estel, you do me great honor already."
Father handed the bundle to Mother and then wrapped Adnan in another bone crushing hug. "Thank you," he murmured, pulling away and wiping his eyes.
Mother held onto the babe for a very long time, bouncing on her toes and murmuring to him. The twins and I passed our nephew around and then Mother settled Gilraen in a chair so that she could sit and hold the baby, bolstered by a few pillows.
I sat on the sofa next to Marilla, who I had always enjoyed while she lived in Minas Tirith.
"I preferred it when I carried him within me. Then I got all of the attention," she said.
I laughed. "I am afraid those days are long gone for you."
"So it would seem," she gave me a mischievous smile. "Tell me everything of Minas Tirith."
Marilla was only a few years older than I and so we had been involved in the same social circles since we were younger. I filled her in on all of the newest court appointments, marriages, babies, and some of the more scandalous gossip that had come my way.
"She always thought very highly of herself, so I cannot say that I am saddened to hear that," Marilla said of one of our acquaintances after I had told her of a recent embarrassment at a public celebration.
"Is this it?" Gilraen asked, after a few minutes of holding her nephew.
Marilla laughed. "During this time of day. You could come back in the middle of the night to see him more active."
"Indeed," Adnan agreed, ruffling Gilraen's curls. "He wakes up positively enraged and screeching three or four times a night."
Gilraen raised her eyebrows. "No thank you!"
The new parents did look tired, but there was a sense of deep contentment about them as well. After so long a struggle to conceive, I imagined they were quite proud of themselves and happy with the new heir.
"Come, let us let them rest before dinner," Mother said, lifting the bundle from Gilraen's lap and handing him back to his father.
ooooOoooo
Throughout our visit we spent time with Adnan, Marilla, and Jibran. My mother's old companion, Oyna, had moved to the capital when Adnan requested that her husband, Nikram, sit on the King's council. We had seen them often when we had visited in year's past.
Their son, Asim, was only a couple of years older than Gilraen. The pair was constantly competing with one another. One afternoon their swordplay turned to fisticuffs while I had been charged with looking after them.
"Gilraen!" I exclaimed as she lunged for Asim, tackling him around the middle.
The boy hit the sand with a thud and I heard the air knocked from his chest.
"I shall teach you to try and trip me!" Gilraen was pounding her fists into his chest and stomach where she straddled his waist.
It took more strength than I had anticipated to get the little girl away from her companion. Even as I hoisted her into the air she was still scrabbling to get back in the fight.
Asim stood and brushed himself off with all the dignity he could muster. "Not very ladylike for a princess, Gilraen," he grumbled, turning his back on us and leaving.
"I shall show you ladylike, you yellow bellied coward!" Gilraen shouted at his retreating form.
"What is the matter with you, you feral little beast?" I demanded.
"Father says there should be ethics in fighting," she retorted when I had set her on her feet once more. "Tripping someone is not ethics."
I tried to bite back my laughter as I bent to pick up her sword. She leapt away from me as I began swatting at her clothes to clear some of the sand away.
"You will not tell Mother, will you?" she asked sheepishly as we made our way back into the cool palace.
"Who do you take me for? The twins?"
"Have I told you lately that you are my favorite?" Gilraen took my free hand and leaned her head against my upper arm.
"Possibly, but it could not hurt to tell me again," I said as we walked out of the training ring.
As we went through the gate, a group of young soldiers let us pass through. I caught the eye of the handsome one in front and turned my head as we passed, his gaze lingering on me.
ooooOoooo
Sitting in Adnan's study with my father and brother was much less exciting than trailing Gilraen, but we had spent many hours together going over alliances and negotiating new terms.
More and more, Father had been bringing me into the fold of ruling the Reunited Kingdom and for the most part I enjoyed helping him.
After discussing shipping and trade for an afternoon, Adnan turned to me.
"And when will you be marrying and securing the line of Telcontar, Brother?"
Father chuckled as my stomach lurched and my hands went clammy. "He has much to consider. Recent dower offers have come in from Faramir and Eomer on behalf of their eldest daughters."
"I thought the twins had claimed Adlanna and Finduilas respectively," Adnan raised a dark eyebrow.
"Oh the girls forcefully disabused them of those notions years ago," Father laughed. "No, they have turned their attentions to Theodwyn and Ivriniel now."
"And every other breathing woman within and outside of the Realm," I muttered.
Father shot me a look. "The younger sisters are much more keen on the twins." He turned his gaze back to Adnan. "Now that you have your own heir, the twins are back, first and foremost, in the line of succession after Shuk. He has some time to make his decision, though hopefully it will be in the near future."
ooooOoooo
The next day, Adnan took most of my family on a mumak ride through the desert. My mother did not join them and instead spent the morning with Marilla and her grandson. I begged off with the excuse of a headache.
It was not a lie. I had not slept at all the night before thinking about the conversation with Father and Adnan.
I kept to my darkened room throughout the morning, but when I heard the outer door open and close, indicating Mother's return, I finally rose.
"Oh, my love," she said, when I emerged into the sitting room. "Are you not feeling any better?"
I shook my head, feeling as though I would be sick then and there. "Could I talk to you?"
"Of course," Mother replied, looking at me with eyes full of concern. She sat on a sofa and while she probably expected me to sit across from her, I sat close by her side instead.
"You are worrying me, Arathorn," she said quietly, taking my damp hands in hers. She only used my full name when she was distressed.
I remained silent, looking at my barely lighter hands in hers. "Yesterday," I began, but paused once more. "Yesterday, I spoke with Father and Adnan."
Mother nodded.
"The topic of my marriage came up and Father told Adnan of the offers that have come in from Rohan and Ithilien," I continued.
"You are not interested in those offers?" Her brow furrowed as she looked up at me. "I do not see the issue if you are not. Those alliances are already well and forged. If you would not be happy with Adlanna or Finduilas, there are many other women who would make a suitable bride and make you happy at the same time."
I swallowed hard. "That is the problem. There is no woman that would make me happy," I whispered, tears welling in my eyes.
"I do not-" Mother began, but then she froze, staring up at me with wide eyes. As realization dawned over her, she began to cry as well.
"I am an abomination and a disappointment," I said, covering my face with my hands, unable to see her in suffering at my hand.
"No!" My mother argued immediately. "I do not cry because you have disappointed me. I cry because it took so long for you to tell me; because you have struggled alone." She pulled my hands from my face, putting her own soft hands on my cheeks and looking deep into my eyes as we both cried.
Mother pulled me into her arms as I continued to cry into her neck. "You are not an abomination," she whispered fiercely. "I will not have you speaking of my son like that. You are a good man with a gentle soul. You are a wonderful son and brother. You are ours no matter what."
When I eventually calmed my breathing and pulled away from Mother, I could not meet her gaze and so instead I looked out the window over her shoulder. "What will Father say?"
"Exactly what I have," she said confidently.
ooooOoooo
Mother and I decided that it would be best to speak with Father as soon as possible, and though I begged, she would not do it for me. She contrived to send my siblings away the following morning after breakfast. Once more I could not sleep or eat due to the dread.
After the twins had taken Gilraen to go swimming, Father looked across the table at Mother and I. "Well?" he asked. "What is this secret meeting about?"
Mother took my hand under the table and I saw Father notice it. He did not miss anything, but he said nothing.
"I must tell you something, Father," I said quietly, looking down at the table.
"I am more used to hearing those ominous words from your younger brothers, I must say," he replied. "At least look at me when you do it."
I drug my gaze to meet his. "After the conversations we have had both at home and here in Harad regarding my marriage, I cannot lead you astray any longer."
"Lead me astray?"
"I will not be marrying," I said with as much conviction as I could muster, though even to my own ears, my voice sounded weak.
"If it is Adlanna and Finduilas you are not pleased with, there are many other women who would make quite competent queens," Father said.
I shook my head and Mother squeezed my hand. "It would be cruel for me to take a wife."
"Cruel? What are you saying?" And then just like Mother, realization dawned. "I see."
We sat in silence for a long moment, Father staring directly at me until I had to lower my gaze.
All things considered, I realized what I had told my parents was perhaps not a great surprise to them. I had always been different from Adnan and the twins. I did not enjoy the pastimes they had with our father. And I certainly did not chase, woo, and bed women the way Rainion and Rilien did.
"What about a family?" Father asked quietly. I noticed that he did not say heir.
"I have a family," I responded. "And I suppose as the years go on, I will be surrounded by more and more of that family. That shall have to be enough for me because I will not let a wife and children suffer due to who I am."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mother wipe more tears away.
"You know your mother and I have only ever wanted you children to be happy," Father said after another long moment of silence. "But the Realm does not always make that easy."
"I have known that for a long time. Rainion and his sons will be first in the succession," I replied. "Just because I am telling you does not mean this will not remain a secret."
At that, Father's eyes welled as well.
"I am sorry," I whispered.
"Do not apologize," he said quickly. Rising, he came around the table and knelt by my chair. "You are my firstborn and nothing will ever change how much I love you, do you understand?" He took my hands in his and then crushed me to his chest.
For once, I remained in his hold and let the tension seep from my body.
There you have it! I really can't wait to hear what you think about this one!
As this family gets older, I'm running out of one-shot ideas so please send anything my way.
Happy reading,
Avonmora