The sight of the Golden Hall of Meduseld overwhelmed me. The name meant "Methall", the "Golden Hall". I had been shown portraits of this hall and taught every detail of its history. The roof did indeed shimmer golden in the light of the evening spring sun. A long staircase built into the stone led in two sections to the entrance, which was guarded by two men in full armour. Only when I reached the end of the stairs did I see that the actual entrance was only a few metres beyond the richly decorated archways. The two guards immediately took posture when they caught sight of me. I stopped and looked at the two men. Their helmets reached above their cheekbones, so apart from two pairs of eyes and beards, not much was visible.

I would have liked to talk to them, but protocol did not permit such a thing, and besides, Mother was waiting for us with the servants. Théodred stood beside me and took my hand. "Ready?" I nodded, took a deep breath and let him lead me inside the hall.

It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dim light. The stony floor glowed in orange tones and had some bright patterns. Next I looked at the servants who had gathered to the right and left along the wooden columns. They were all tall and dressed in shades of green and brown. The women had their light hair tied in a knot behind their necks. But unlike the custom in Arnor, they wore no bonnets to cover their hair, only a fine hairnet.

Two steps led to the elaborately crafted throne, on the wall behind it hung four long banners, but none of them showed my coat of arms, let alone the coat of arms of Arnor. //That I will know how to change. //

Similar to Helm's Deep, the small ceremony was mainly used to show humility and godliness.

As tradition demanded, I knelt down together with Mother and Théodred in front of the pedestal with the throne and quietly intoned a prayer asking Eru for his protection and blessing.

A few hours later, my maid was busy helping me out of my thick travelling clothes when the door to my bedroom literally flew open and Théodred entered. My necklace fell out of the poor girl's hands in shock. She curtsied hastily, picked up the jewel carefully and left the room after slipping a thin coat over my undergarment.

"Théodred, can you explain to me why you come to my chambers so late, as if it were a matter of life and death?" This notion seemed to amuse him visibly. "Firstly, you are my cherished spouse, so I have every right in the world to visit as well. And secondly." He pulled out a letter from his doublet and thrust it into my fingers. I turned the envelope over and, a little puzzled, recognised the crest of Gondor on the blood-red seal. //Probably it is from Tariél.//

"Is the letter for me?", I asked redundantly. "According to the messenger, it is addressed to both of us, but I have a hard time assuming it is addressed to you."

I sat down on the edge of the bed, broke the seal and began to read aloud, "Dearest niece, what joyous news your marriage is to us all! By the time you read this letter, you will certainly have arrived safely in Edoras. I am even more pleased to inform you that we accept your invitation to your coronation in two months' time. I cannot yet promise you that Eldarion will also come, he is supervising the recruitment practically day and night. I will leave as soon as possible, Eru willing, together with my husband and your dear cousin, Sienna. You are both the same age and like you she will one day inherit the throne. She has no shortage of suitors, but like my blessed brother, I am not prepared to marry my daughter off hastily. We are very pleased with this wonderful invitation to renew the friendship between our kingdoms. With best wishes, Tariél, Queen of Gondor."

"In that case, I suppose we'll have to hold your coronation in Helm's Deep," Théodred remarked dryly. I neatly folded the paper and looked to him. "What makes you think that? The coronation will take place here, Edoras is the seat of the king." "Don't you understand? If every noble family of our allies wants to witness this ceremony, we have no place here." I had wanted to protest about the term "ceremony" but then let it go and turned my attention to the important part of his statement. "True, Meduseld is smaller than Helm's Deep, but it won't fail because of that. A coronation is not like an ordinary folk festival, it is a centuries-old tradition, and being allowed to see it is reserved for the closest relatives."

Théodred frowned, but let the subject rest for the moment. His gaze wandered slowly over my body, then he sat down beside me. "We don't know each other yet, but we can change that. After all, we're both young, aren't we?" I'm sure it was meant benevolently, I would still have a headache with that statement.

He had always behaved carefully and considerately towards me and had been the same on our wedding night. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was not as it should be between a woman and a man. There were no signs of pregnancy yet, but that didn't bother me for the time being.

"Your family from Gondor seem very excited about your coronation." I chuckled and lifted my head a little to look into his green eyes. "Yes they do, after all a coronation is an extraordinary event" More quietly I added, "However, we do not usually socialize. The same blood may flow in our veins, but their arrogance will be their downfall sooner or later."

"Watch your words, wife. A loose mouth is a dangerous weapon."

"A loose mouth? Gondor is not our ally! Do you know how the scholars write about Gondor?"

Gondor, Sindarin for "Land of Stones" is a great Dúnedain kingdom in north-west Middle-earth. Founded after the fall of Númenor, it flourished in the first half of the Third Age and became one of the greatest and most powerful realms of men. However, due to internal conflicts and wars with hostile peoples, its glory gradually decayed. After the final battle at the end of the Age, Gondor was allied with Arnor and rose to its former strength under King Elessar.

"To old strength. Until they shall be greedy as dwarves again."

I had to smile at the thought of the self-importance and sinful pomp in our sister kingdom //Numenor broke from it, Gondor will fail from it too.//

There was so much more to say about this land. That since time immemorial (or since they had fled Númenor) they had tried again and again to annex Arnor. We had always been one step ahead of them and had formed an alliance with Rohan many decades ago.

Then the War of the Ring had come upon Middle-earth and everything had changed.

The Rohirim had been cruelly slaughtered in the Battle of Pelennor. Théoden had known it would come to this - everyone had. Yet my father's people had faced Sauron's army, as had the soldiers of Arnor and Gondor. A desperate army of diverse free peoples against the dark ruler.

The kingdom had been in debt to King Éomer after that, and with a war to Arnor they would have destroyed the hard-bought peace again. Well, the peace had been fragile, but better than nothing. After the war, King Éomer's daughter, Tariél, had been married to the future King of Gondor, Eldarion.

I went through my family tree in my mind, I knew it since i was a child.

The problem with my parents' union had never been class. Alyndra was the rightful ruler of Arnor, but distance. Mother had lived in Rohan for the first few years; after my birth she had returned to Arnor.

I flinched in fright as Théodred ran one hand along my neck and grasped my waist with the other. "Have no fear, I will do you no harm."

He immediately ended my protest in a kiss and at the same time set about undressing me. At first I tried to stop him, but quickly gave up and just let him.