Daughter of Arathorn

Return to Gondor

I am SO sorry I posted the wrong chapter before!

Three days later, Elia rode through the White City for the first time in nearly sixteen years. She handed her horse to a stable boy and looked around as she, Pippin, and Gandalf entered the hall. Only, when she approached the Steward, she saw Boromir's shattered horn in his hands. "Perhaps you have come to tell me why my son is dead," Denethor said brokenly. Elia's heart shattered as Borormir's dying expression filled her mind.

"Could you...ever love me?" his final question to her.

Elia's lower lip shook and she lowered her head. "Boromir died for us...my kinsman and me. He fell fighting many foes," Pippin said as he bowed to one knee in front of Denethor, "I offer my service, such as it is, for payment of this debt."

Denethor saw Elia standing there, now distracted by the woman in the room. "Elia," he said.

"Lord Denethor," she said, bowing to the man.

Denethor stood up from his chair as Gandalf tapped Pippin with his staff to move him. "You have returned to us!" he said. There was something in his voice that almost terrified her, he embraced her and she stood completely still. He pulled away and stared at her. "I told Boromir you would return," he said, "I knew you would come back to us."

"Lord Denethor, there will be time to talk about Boromir. Right now there are more pressing matters. The enemy is standing on your doorstep. As Steward, you are charged to protect the city where are Gondor's armies?" Gandalf asked. Denethor was silent and he stared at Gandalf. "You still have friends. You are not alone in this fight. Send word to Theoden of Rohan, light the beacons," he insisted.

"You think you are wise Mithrandir? Yet with all your subtilties you have not wisdom. Do you think the eyes of the White Tower are blind? I have seen more than you know. In your left hand you would use it as a shield against Mordor, but in your right, you plan to supplant me. I know who rides with Theoden of Rohan. Oh yes, word has reached my ears of this Aragorn, son of Arathorn. I will tell you know I will not bow to this Ranger of the North! Last of a ragged house long bereft of lordship," he snarled.

"Authority is not yours to deny the return of the king, Steward!" Gandalf answered.

"The rule of Gondor is MINE! And no others!" Denethor snarled.

The room was silent. "Come, Pippin," Gandalf ordered. Elia turned to leave.

"Elia, please, stay," Denethor insisted, his voice suddenly gentle as it was before. Elia felt her blood run cold and looked over at Gandalf. He showed concern in his eyes, but she gave him a reassuring nod.

"Of course," she answered. She turned back around and Denethor walked up to her.

"I always knew you would return to Gondor, I told Boromir that you would come back to us. That you would come back to him," he said.

"Lord Denethor, I have come back as a friend...an ally to you. I also come with a heavy heart as I was there the day Boromir was struck down," she said.

Denethor's eyes were sad. "How could a man as strong as my son get struck down?" he asked, "And yet...you survived?"

"It is because he sacrificed his life to protect the halfling, his kinsman, and myself from a hoard of Uruk-Hai attacking us from all sides," she said, "He took many arrows, even then he fought until the very end."

"So...in his final moments...he gave his life for the woman he loved," he said. He spoke as though he were telling himself a story. "Then you returned here, as his widow." Now Elia felt her heart rate speed up and she saw the gleeful glint in his eye.