"Bainrìgh Celebrian! Bainrìgh à Rohan! Gun dìonadh sibh. Dia agus an taigh leotha!"

In my left hand I held the orb, on my right the sceptre. Both felt heavy and cold. Yet I felt an unshakable calm deep within me.

The ceremony had reached its climax. I had taken my oath as required in the language of Rohan.

"I, Princess Celebrian, daughter of Elfwine and Alyndra, do hereby swear to serve and protect my kingdom. In war as well as in peace, in sickness as well as in health, I will be Eru's deputy here in Arda."

No sooner had I finished than the highest priest continued the mass unflinchingly in the language of Rohan, just as protocol demanded.

I understood only about half of the sermon in that rough and unrythmic language, but what did it matter?

Now I was the queen of Rohan. I would be above everyone else, even my mother and husband.

My thoughts were interrupted by the rotund cleric, who held a goblet of red wine under my nose. I murmured a formula of thanks as I had learned to do and took a small sip. The wine tasted rather sour and left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I really would have liked to know why wine, of all things, had such a high status at the fair. Of course, I knew the spiritual answer to this and many other questions, but only Eru knew the truth.

The music started and the choir sang a solemn song. It was done. Slowly I rose and walked slowly through the hall. Like at my wedding, everyone present sank to their knees.

But today it was different. Those present no longer bowed to the pretender to the throne, but to their queen.

I stepped outside and squinted against the blinding light of the afternoon sun.

Even as my eyes adjusted to the bright light, I heard the cheers of the people who had gathered.

Théodred, along with his entourage, had gathered just outside the entrance. "My queen." Théodred winked at me before clearing his throat and raising his voice: "Your Majesty, Queen Celebrian of Arnor and Rohan. As your husband and ally, I swear before you, and your people, that Eru willing, I will avert all harm from you." He bowed deeply to me and remained so as tradition demanded. Actually, tradition now demanded that the king command his queen to rise. "Théodred, son of Elboron, Lord of Ithilien. As my consort, you shall be respected and loved by my people, but also by me as Lord of Helm's Deep!"

Later...

Dawn was not far off and many of the guests had already retired. It had been a long but exciting day. Not only had I and Théodred been sworn in, but so had our Crown Council. The important families had also sworn to serve Rohan, if protocol demanded it.

Each family had brought me a gift. Unlike what I knew from Arnor, the spectrum of gifts was almost infinite. They ranged from invitations to important occasions, to animals (including a small adder), to a group of dancers from the south. The thought of these young women made me smile. The hall had instantly gone silent when they had entered. They had been lightly dressed. Strange trousers and tops that revealed their bellies. The men's eyes had almost fallen out of their heads, their wives had only stared sombrely at the dancers. It had been a truly amusing gift.

I searched the room with my eyes for my maid, and there stood my mother before me. "Celebrian." She curtsied curtly. "My sister-in-law, Queen Tariél is waiting for you to receive her. //The Queen of Gondor!// Théodred must have had the same thought, he stiffened. "Lady Tàriel is a guest here. She hardly has the right to ask my consort for a confidential meeting." Even though I was actually of that opinion, curiosity clearly got the better of me. "The Queen has travelled here for the occasion, then she can speak to me as well. My husband did not disagree with me, but squeezed my hand briefly as I was about to leave. "Be watchful."

Tariél curtsied deeply to me as I entered the reception room. "Bainrìgh Celebrian." Her pronunciation was flawless, but her accent reminded me that she was from Rohan. My father's younger sister, the daughter of King Eomer. My father had described her as "the sunshine of Edoras". She must be about forty years old by now, if I remembered correctly. Nevertheless, she was a very beautiful woman. She had a round but narrow face and almond-shaped brown eyes. Her hair was under a mighty round cap, but it was probably brown.

"Tariél, Bainrìgh à Gondor. Welcome to Edoras. It is a pleasure to meet you in person." "I thank you, it fills my heart with joy to see again the home of my youth. King Eldarion and the Princess Sienna send you their best wishes and condolences for the loss of your father and king." Something in the way she said this caused a strange feeling in me. I didn't know what it was, but I would look into that later. "Thank you. May I ask if you and Elfwine were close?"

She avoided my gaze and sighed. "No. Our two duties have estranged us from each other. Still, I had hoped to the last that he would grant my heirs the titles of Rohan as well."

All at once my sympathy was gone. I felt unspeakably betrayed. "That is what you are after! You have taken advantage of my father's death to come here and bring my Crown Council to your side!"

"If you think you know my intentions, you are mistaken." She had spoken so softly that at first I wasn't sure if I had imagined it. "I am here as the Queen of Gondor, as a faithful consort and mother! If you think I have taken this journey because of an insignificant title, you are mistaken. My husband charged the princess and I to mark this day as the cornerstone of a future peace." "Impressive. And if the princess, my cousin, is also an emissary from Minas Tirith, why is she not here?"

"As I am sure you know, many are asking for her hand in marriage. An extremely promising candidate will be coming to Minas Tirith these days to meet her in person." "Well." At first I didn't know how to answer this strange excuse, then an idea came to me.

"Then I wish my dear cousin well. How glad I am that my own engagement has been so admirably arranged."

That had hit home. Tariél clenched her hands into fists, her bright green eyes looking at me sharply. "Even though you now call yourself Queen of Rohan, I advise you to hold your tongue! You understand nothing, nothing at all of the powers you are dealing with." //She's just trying to intimidate me.// "And if you understand so much more about these powers than I do, why don't you just tell me about them? As a Rohirrim, you know the ways of Rohan."

Tariél sighed and wiped a strand of blonde hair from her eyes that had come loose from under her hairnet. "If I give you some advice, will you recognise the titles of myself and my descendants again in return?"

I would have liked to hear what she had to say, but I could not. She was from Rohan, but she had become the Queen of Gondor by her marriage, an enemy.

So I left that night without speaking to my aunt. I only knew that I could never trust the people of Gondor again if I wanted to keep my throne.