The Ranger And The Prince.

Wedding Traditions.

Everyone was in good spirits, bustling through the streets and talking of the King's wedding. It appeared we were not the only people to arrive for Aragorn's wedding to Arwen, as other horses and caravans were lineing the street.

When finally we made our way to the castle, we were greeted in the courtyard by Aragorn who looked so excited to see us. We hurried up and hugged each other.

"Congratulations!" I beamed happily as Arwen strode through the courtyard to us.

"My thanks, Lady Sapphire," Arwen beamed with a warm smile as she linked her arm with Aragorn's.

"So, how's being King treating you?" Legolas mused as one of the servants took our horse to the stable and readied our bags.

"It's a little overwhelming," He admitted with a sigh, "I'm not used to this responsibility but I'm trying my best. Faramir and Éowyn have been very helpful."

"You're the best King Gondor has ever seen," Arwen blushed.

"That's not saying much, actually, come to think of it," I chuckled, the rest of us laughing along as well.

"So what you're saying is I'm the best of a bad bunch?" Aragorn raised an eyebrow at me.

"Pretty much, yes." I nodded with a broad smile.

"You haven't changed." Aragorn chuckled, grabbing my shoulder in a brotherly embrace.

"Never," I chuckled back, "But know I'm sincere when I say I'm happy to hear of your marriage."

"We do have one other thing to share with you," Arwen spoke quietly, a faint smile on her lips.

"What else could be so momentous as marriage?" Legolas scoffed.

"I'm with child." Arwen squeaked happily, as Aragorn held her close.

We stood in shock for longer than we could acknowledge. Arwen was with child? Pregnant? When finally my voice returned, I closed my open mouth and tried to find something to say.

"You two certainly moved quickly didn't you?" I scoffed, making Arwen blush in embarrassment.

"So did you and Legolas as I recall," Aragorn smirked at me and Legolas, making us both look away momentarily in embarrassment.

"Point taken. Let's never speak of that time again, ok?" I said, my own face now flush from Aragorn's bluntness.

"We're keeping it a secret until after the wedding of course." Arwen said, resting her hand in her belly which wasn't showing and I doubt would be anytime soon.

"Far be it for me to throw dirt on your names so short into your reign." I said, respecting their wishes.

"Where is Gimli? Has he been told of Arwen's pregnancy?" Legolas asked.

"He's in his room, and yes, we seemed fit to trust him as well." Aragorn replied, "Speaking of rooms, I'll have the servants escort you to where you'll be staying for the week. You're sharing a room, not that I imagine that would be a problem for you two."

***

To our surprise, the room we were sharing, was the exact same one we had shared before. We knew that Aragorn had some sort of hand in this because when he left us to be escorted by the servants, he couldn't contain his cheeky smile. I see he hadn't been completely changed by being King, he still had his humour.

We found Gimli in the lounge nearest to our rooms. He was sat squat on one of the plump sofas and was puffing away on his pipe.

"You two took your time, elves are always late." Gimli huffed but I could see a smile starting to form in the corner of his lips.