Harmindon's Finest

Chapter 34 - The Golden Arrow

The Last Chapter

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Much happened over the following two years.

Upon our return from Pelargir I made myself at home in one of the two guest rooms of Lord Medlithor's town house in Minas Tirith, and Miarka took the second - it was quite small, more like a storage room with a bed - but Miarka liked the novelty of having her own bedroom so much, she didn't mind. Of course, when there were visitors or when she had a nightmare she often joined me - more frequently in the beginning, but as she settled in, she grew used to sleeping alone.

There was a lot to celebrate in that time also. Prince Eldarion married the Lady Galieth in the last spring, to celebrations of special magnificence for the whole city. Lady Túrien on one of her biannual visits pulled some strings - and I found myself giving advice in regard to her wedding dress.

A spectator would have laughed at the scene - Lady Galieth, red with embarrassment, being circled by vultures in the form of Princess Eruthiawen, Queen Arwen and a scared little Haradrim seamstress. The funny thing was, they genuinely seemed to appreciate my advice and help, and together we kitted out the future Queen of Gondor in a dress that was - on first glance - very simple, modeled after a form of formal gown from North Gondor that I hadn't seen before, with trailing, lacy sleeves elf-style, tiny silk-covered buttons down the back, a girdle of pure mithril more expensive than the rest of the outfit together, and an outer train that, when removed in the privacy of a little side-room with many tiny hooks and hidden buttons, opened to reveal and identical but much lighter skirt suitable for lively Dúnedain dances. The veil was the final touch, threaded into a dainty circlet of silver, hiding Lady Galieth's hair - not as black as Lady Túrien's, still black but in some lights brown. She - plainer than the womenfolk of her new family - was radiant with happiness on her wedding day, shining like a star.

The fact that I had assisted in the fashioning of the wedding gown of the century did not go unnoticed by the female populace of Minas Tirith. I was utterly swamped in a tidal wave of orders, and more often than not I asked Miarka to look after the stall on days where I sat (often on the balcony of the house, healthier than the darker interior and squinting by candlelight) sewing from dawn till dusk, my fingers pricked like a pin-cushion and my back and neck stiff.

However busy I was, I always made time for a secret project of my own.

My own wedding dress took me over two years to make. Every night I would work on it a little, and hang it carefully in a great walnut wardrobe in coverings of canvas and wool so it would not be attacked by mice or moths. Reluctantly, when Lady Earine suspected what I was doing and begged to give advice, I agreed - and she actually helped me a lot, suggesting this and that, things I had not even thought of. The final product was - like a lot of wedding dresses that year - made after the style of Lady Galieth's, though even simpler. It was an ivory silk, whe most expensive Lady Earine could get her hands on - I was reluctant at first for a white dress, but Lady Earine explained it was tradition, and after a while I decided I liked the idea.

I decided to wait until I was of age in Gondorian tradition to be married. At first, Malbeth wanted to obtain special permission from the King under unusual circumstances but I was so firmly against this idea, Malbeth agreed to wait. My wedding was less than a year away, and I was beginning to grow impatient.

I made my way down to the stables in the First Circle under a sun that shone just as brightly as it had in midsummer. The streets were thronged with people - squires leading horses, carrying piles of lances and saddle-blankets and random pieces of armour, men setting up trestle benches and stacks of wood for bonfires in the market squares, for the celebrations in the evening. Women spread tablecloths, chased after their excited children, and hurried with jugs of apple cider to their cool cellars - but mostly, people were heading in one direction - to the great arena outside the city walls, finished with white stone like the rest of the city, usually silent apart from some knights trining - but today it rang with excited calls and chatter, flags and banners from all over Gondor and Rohan and Dale flying gaily.