Seeds of the White Tree

Chapter 17 - Mûmakil

OoOoO

When Eldarion awoke the next morning, it was to the sound of unknown birds trilling in the gardens below his window. The day was already hot, and so he was glad of the lightness of the sheets as he slid out of them. Padding over to the window in bare feet, he opened the intricately carved shutters and threw them wide.

The vast arch of an aquaduct loomed overhead, casting a shadow across the gardens and the old men who tended them. A cool, earthy scent just barely tinged with the brightness of sunlight stretched up into the air from the waxen leaves of ferns and trees. Eldarion caught sight of a brief flash of iridescent wings among the foliage. With Harmindon still quiet at dawn, he could just hear the constant trickle of water down from the duct along the core of the nearest sandstone column. The City of Many Waters lay in wait, beckoning its guests to see what sights it might hold. Eldarion could scarcely wash and dress himself fast enough.

They gathered in a shaded courtyard for a breakfast of milk, honey and a white, fleshy plant which Bakr told them was called 'coconut'. According to him, coconuts grew only around the shores of Harad's rare oasis pools, knowledge which made Eldarion appreciate the delicacy even though the flavor was not quite to his liking.

Leaving the ramyahs to talk amongst themselves like old friends reunited (and Bakr to retreat to the cool of Harmindon's baths), Na'Man and Tufayl graciously offered to guide a tour around the city itself. Aragorn of course accepted, as did Éomer, with Lord Elphir only too happy to join their group. Éomer requested that two of his Rohirrim also come along, with a meaningful look at Aragorn implying that perhaps he ought to request the same. Na'Man had no qualms about the presence of the two Riders, and so they set out into the streets with the two chieftains leading. A handful of Haradrim guards also accompanied them, although they seemed far more at ease than the Rohirrim, who were already beginning to sweat beneath their burnished helms.

While Aragorn, Éomer, Elphir and the chieftains spoke together as they walked, Eldarion dropped back to Túrien's side. She greeted him with a broad smile. There was a happy lightness to her step that made Túrien seem to float along the sand-paved streets.

"Well, what think you of Harad so far?" Eldarion asked her.

Túrien paused to briefly investigate a small, furry creature with a curled tail and clever hands tethered beneath the awning of a shop before answering. The animal blinked up at her curiously. When Túrien knelt to offer an open hand to it, the creature dared to stretch forward and sniff her palm.

"Take care, lady of the west," the shopkeeper warned her. "Even trained monkeys may bite."

"That is just as well, for so do I," laughed Túrien, flashing a toothy white grin up at the woman. Such a pronouncement sent the woman back to her wares with a low chuckle and a shake of her head.

Seeing that the others had stopped and were looking back questioningly at them, Eldarion tapped Túrien's shoulder. "Come Túrien, we mustn't be separated from Adar and Éomer."

Túrien stood, heedless of the sand now dusting the knees of her linen hose. Against the sun's punishing rays she wore overtop a thin cotton shirt and a light grey surcoat laced at the sides without sleeves. With a final wave back at the monkey, she and Eldarion rejoined the group. Where Na'Man was leading them Eldarion did not know, but there was a knowing twinkle in Aragorn's eye when he looked back.

"I think that there is so much to this land and these people that we would never have known had we stayed in Minas Tirith," she said, unexpectedly answering Eldarion's question. "Can you imagine how the lords of Gondor would react if told that the Haradrim answer to the rule of their womenfolk while within the bounds of home? Or if it were suggested that they ought to do the same?"