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End West Frodo's Harem Fanfiction Archive Frodo's Harem at Khazaddum.com
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Starlight at Eventide Chapter 7
Aragorn arrived on a Thursday, a most particular Thursday, since it was also the twenty-second of September, the Ringbearer's birthday. Heralds announced the approach of his retinue to the Buckland gates and hobbits for miles around the Marish and the Southfarthing, hearing their trumpets, strained to catch a glimpse of the King. The Master and the Thain, their mail gleaming in the sun, were there to greet him and stood in the open gate like a pair of tall princes before their people. The Mayor and his wife, were also there and behind them a phalanx of bright hobbit children, Gamgees all. While the rest of the hobbits gazed at the procession with awe, the three Travellers bore grins that nearly split their faces and Pippin was fidgeting even worse than his son Faramir, whom Diamond had had to keep both hands on. When the standard of the White Tree came to a rest just outside the bounds of the Shire proper, the Thain could hold himself back no longer. With Merry and Sam, he ran forward into the arms of a tall Man who suddenly stepped from the crowd and stooped to embrace them. Diamond was even more astonished by the enthusiasm of their greeting, as they hugged and thumped each other so vigorously they nearly knocked each other to the ground. She and Rosie looked at each other nervously, wondering if this constituted some breach of protocol, but then the man's rich, hearty laugher rang out along the street and it was clear he was not at all displeased. They shrugged, gathered up the Travellers' children, and came forward to greet him. Diamond spent most of that day trying to keep Faramir and Theoden out of the King's wagons and tents, but she did get to meet the King and Queen; an occasion she would not soon forget. She'd been brought before their 'court' in a little glade east of the gate where hundreds of tents had been set up for them and their retainers. The two of them sat on plain chairs before a large and richly decorated coach, and staff and courtiers fanned out beside them to encircle the glade. Colors of every conceivable hue clothed the ladies and knights of Gondor and amid them, the hobbits stood out to Diamond as splashes of normalcy in a great sea of strangeness. Merry and Pippin sat on the royal couple's left and Sam on their right, and all three were engaged in the excited talk of old friends long apart. To her eyes, the King was huge and though he had a stern and menacing face that looked as if it were chiselled from stone, his grey eyes were merry and he laughed as often as he spoke. His garments were rich and well tailored and all but his worn and scuffed boots were new and bright. He wore no ornamentation save a green stone set in a simple necklace and a large ring on his finger, but his beneficent and kingly manner would have marked him in any crowd. She decided that she liked him then, though she was not the sort to grant her preference easily. The Queen of Gondor was tall and slim and crowned with a fall of hair like black water. She was possibly the loveliest creature Diamond had ever seen. Her eyes were grey, like her husband's, but deeper and filled with subtly veiled sorrow, except when she smiled, and then her joy was so genuine it was as if the sun had come out and bathed the world in light. She wore a dress of deep blue, as rich and striking as a summer night, girdled by a simple silver belt with links shaped like the flowers that grew under the Party Tree near the Gamgee home. Diamond stood before them both and curtsied. Faramir and Theoden, her charges for the day, looked up at the regal couple in awe, their mouths hanging open fish-like until she prodded them to bow. The King laughed and beckoned the children to join them and the boys rushed forward into the laps of their respective fathers. Samwise Gamgee had his son Frodo by his side already. Diamond curtsied again, thinking herself dismissed, but the Queen stood and approached her. "You are the wife of Peregrin Took, Knight of Gondor?" Her voice was resonant but merry as a girl's. "You have introduced yourself and your son, but the other child was Merry Brandybuck's; I can see the stamp of his father writ clear on his face. Is his lady unable to join us?" Diamond cleared her throat, finding speech an effort before the stately lady. "As a matter of fact, my Queen, I wished to speak with you about her." She blushed. "I know you and your husband are dear friends of Merry's. Estella Brandybuck is a dear friend of mine. She is but lately recovered from a serious illness and has suffered much. Though she would not ask for herself, I wish to beg you for your aid in her cause." The Queen's clear gaze captured her and, for a second, Diamond felt as exposed as if she had walked naked into the clearing. She could have kept nothing from this Elf-woman, even if she had tried. The lady then smiled and Diamond blushed at the warm regard evident in her face and voice. "Peregrin's chosen possesses in good measure the courage for which her people gained renown." She curtsied to Diamond. "If there is any way I can help, I will be happy to do it." ~*~
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