Seeds of the White Tree

Chapter 39 - Moonless Night

Dawn on a fine summer morning saw Eldarion riding toward Minas Tirith across the Fields of Pelennor, the sun rising at his back and Greyhame surging beneath him. The road was clear this early in the day, and Eldarion gave Greyhame his head to gallop as fast as he pleased. A spirit of playfulness seemed to have seized the stallion today, and it pleased Greyhame to sprint nearly full-out across the plain. Wind streaked past so fast that Eldarion's eyes watered, and he reveled in the moment of pure, unencumbered freedom.

Eldarion was on his way back from Osgiliath, where he had spent the past two weeks supervising the city guard and receiving reports from the area's numerous ranger patrols. Only a year shy of thirty, Eldarion now enjoyed the full status of manhood, and the soldiers of Gondor respected him accordingly. The past twelve months had been a long and difficult campaign against the hubris which Ohtar had noted in their newest recruits, but Eldarion was heartened by the belief that, with his lieutenants' dedication and the new focus on Minas Ithil's restoration, the battle for Gondor's character was being won.

The subject of Minas Ithil had been central to Eldarion's time in Osgiliath. He had met with Elboron whilst there, and heard the latest updates on both Eruthiawen and the reconstruction. While the Vale of the Moon was undoubtedly closer to Minas Tirith than even Faramir and Éowyn's settlement at Ithilien, the demands on both Elboron and Eruthiawen's time was such that Eldarion saw less of them both than he would like. Eruthiawen had been unable to join them in Osgiliath this past week, owing to her being in the advanced stages of pregnancy. Any week now, the royal household expected to receive a summons to go to Eruthiawen's side in Minas Ithil. Arwen had made the journey all the way to Harmindon last autumn to be with Túrien for the birth of hers and Sufyan's first child, and would certainly do no less for Eruthiawen and Elboron.

Eldarion leaned back in the saddle and smiled widely at the thought of his ever-growing family. Eruthiawen and Elboron, happily married and expecting their first child any day now. Túrien and Sufyan, already into their fifth year of marriage and thoroughly devoted to their daughter. Dark of hair and rosy-cheeked, little Myriam was the apple of all her grandparents' eyes, but Sawda most especially. Already Sawda was introducing the baby to everyone as "our little ramyah". Túrien and Sufyan were in Minas Tirith right now for the summer meeting of the Great Council, and Eldarion blessed the speed with which Greyhame brought him closer to reuniting with his middle sister and brother-in-law once more. He could even see the vast, looming shape of Gïdjls, their family Mûmak, grazing contentedly just beyond the city walls. No doubt the soldiers on guard would be watching through anxious eyes; Gïdjls had also grown up, and was now equal in size to any bull Oliphant.

To the west, Rohan and Gondor's ancestral friendship only strengthened and grew deeper with Elfwine on the throne. The young king - filled with the zest and daring of a warrior in an age of peace - continuing to compete in Gondor's annual Harvest Tournament despite the protests of his worried advisors. Elfwine had also taken a vow not to court again until he found someone whom he had every intention of marrying, to the dismay of the Rohirrim and the quiet approval of Eldarion. At four-and-twenty, Elfwine was still ripening into his kingship, and Eldarion could only imagine that the best years of Elfwine's life lay yet before him.

That left Almárëa as the last of Aragorn and Arwen's daughters still to dwell within the royal household. Now a maiden of seventeen, Almárëa was at last beginning to take shape into the stature of a fine woman. She remained, however, as merry as a child and as imperious as an empress. Eldarion was glad to still have at least one of his sisters to come home to; even (or rather, especially!) at seventeen, nobody could laugh and smile and charm like Almárëa. Numerous suitors waited anxiously in the wings of Minas Tirith's nobility, counting the years until the youngest princess came of age. Eldarion knew for a fact though that Almárëa scorned all of them. Instead, Almárëa preferred to spend her time divided between her studies in the Sages' Tier and shadowing Arwen at her queenly duties.