With a secret mission to marry an elf, Wynne must join Legolas' and Elvenking Thranduil's new quest as a horsekeeper. She begins an adventurous journey, encountering orcs and monsters, friendly uruk-hai, a lady dwarf and many Fellowship heroes - but...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
~ Wynne has a woman crush, and gets to meet her relative Aragorn. In the morning more people arrive in the city. ~
53. An Unexpected Meeting
Rather starstruck, Wynne numbly rode after the king and queen. Now that she finally had met him, King Elessar was quite imposing.
Prince Faramir had briefly introduced everyone to the king upon arrival, but more formal introductions would follow later after they had time to freshen up and change clothes. Rooms were already prepared for them in the city's finer guesthouses, near the Citadel.
Wynne guessed this was a great honor in itself, and in addition they would be followed there personally by the king and his family.
Only to think the King of Gondor was escorting an uruk-hai and a Haradrim into the very heart of the Guarded City! Who could have imagined that ten years ago when the city had struggled so hard to keep those peoples out of it?
Next to the king rode Queen Arwen Undómiel in an ornate side saddle, the train of her dress spilling over her beautiful young stallion's back.
Arwen was the first female elf (or half-elven) Wynne had ever seen and she had still not fully regained her composure. The male elves had intimidated her the first time she met them, but that was nothing compared to the reaction the queen had provoked. Her exquisite beauty was ethereal, as if she were lit from within by a multitude of stars through her pale skin. She had bright eyes framed by long, dark lashes and elegantly arched eyebrows.
Wynne had never imagined she could be attracted to another female but now she realized she was, and she threw Legolas a guilty glance to make sure he didn't notice her staring.
After a while the sight of the city enabled her to tear her gaze away from the stunning half-elven and she looked around her with interest. The main street meandered from one level to the next, each time passing through a new gate. Again Gimli pointed out structures his workers had created; a house here, a segment of wall there. He had also designed most of the gates though none were as impressive as the Great Gate, of course.
Legolas rode next to Wynne, silent and lost in thought. Perhaps he regretted being inside a city of stone again? As far as she knew, only one tree grew here, the famous white one that symbolized Gondor.
Or maybe it was something his father had said to him on the bridge? But he had seemed happy after that conversation, as if they had come to some sort of understanding, and when Thranduil apologized to Wynne during lunch she had begun to hope he might finally allow Legolas' and her courtship.
The stables were located at the sixth level of the city and there they must part with the horses for a while. Wynne always felt bad about leaving them, but these stables were really magnificent, big and airy, and the feed was of finest quality.
They entered the final level on foot and the king led them out on a ledge that extended over the city like the prow of a ship. The view was breathtaking; clusters of stone houses with conical roofs and pinnacles were wedged in between the seven walls, and further out expanded the farms, pastures and orchards of the Pelennor Fields, lush green and thriving. The checkered pattern strongly reminded Wynne of the view from the Falls of Rauros.
