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To Cairistiona and Estelcontar: my most grateful thanks for their ongoing encouragement and support.

And special thanks to Cairistiona for the beta.

Chapter 33: Halbarad

This is an evil door and my death lies beyond it.

The Passing of the Grey Company                                                         Return of the King

   As I wait on the prow of this Black Ship, I feel my guts twist as they never have before. The oarsmen labour tirelessly at full stretch to haul this mighty dromund to war with all speed. The harbour fast approaches as the wind that has been strengthening behind us aids them in their task, carrying us swiftly to our doom. We can clearly see the battle awaiting us now and it is terrible; the might of our enemies beyond our greatest fears. I clasp the black staff tightly as if to crush my fear beneath my bloodless knuckles.

   We arrive not a moment too soon. Now I understand the need that compelled you to drive us to the very brink of exhaustion on our long road here. You were right to do so. Had this fleet sailing behind us been filled with the swords of our enemies, all hope would now be lost. Instead the men within the hulls are but the vanguard of those who rallied to your banner. With them rides our only hope of turning the tide that waxes against Gondor even as we prepare to enter the fray.

   But I do not believe we are finished yet. It fills all our hearts to see the Men of Gondor and the Dúnedain of Arnor united once more and standing shoulder to shoulder as we prepare to challenge the might of Mordor. We have tasted victory once already and, although the greater battle looms before us, I feel in my heart you will not be defeated.   Hope has ever been your companion and it will not desert you today. Even now, if my eyes do not deceive me, the sky lightens above us. The foul air of Mordor will not prevail; already it takes flight at our coming.

    I can not tell you how much it lifts my troubled heart to see the sun striving for the mastery of the skies. When we took that terrible road through the mountain, I feared we would never live to see the sun again. As it was, when we emerged from that path, we had but one day only before the start of this oppressive blackness. But as my mind drifts back to that last clear evening, and the beauty of the sky as the sun set behind the White Mountains, I forebode then that I would never see its like again. The walls of the White City are nearly before us and when all the battle is raging in our midst, then, I shall meet my doom. Long have I felt that I shall not live to enjoy the peace that our victory may yet bring. But I would change nothing. Ever would I be at your side and I shall not falter as I ride into battle with you now.

~oo0oo~

   It is seventy years, my friend, since first we met. You were but a lad then, excited about joining your first proper patrol. Your Elven brothers were with you as I recall. We all knew whose son you were though you, of course, did not. You were free of all cares then, your only concern not to disappoint. You did not see the knowing looks that passed among us. Glad we were and proud that our chieftain showed such promise, though you heard none of the praise levelled at you.

   That day our hope returned.

   And when you at last learned of your inheritance and left the sanctuary of Rivendell, we rejoiced to have our young chieftain finally living among us again. I regretted then the years of our youth that we had not shared. Had you been other than Arathorn’s son we would have played together as small boys and got into trouble as young lads do. I took you to my heart from the very first, although at times I could not resist a tease over your Elvish ways.

   You grew quickly into your new role and impressed us all with your valour and your skill. Soon none would dare to tease you. Nor was it long before you captured the hearts of all our people and even the dourest old campaigners came to love you. But in too short time, it seemed, you left us again and were gone for many long years. I can not pretend any of us wished to see you leave only to serve a foreign lord, and some, I am sure, despaired that you would ever return. I had more faith in you than that and trusted to your wisdom. Long did we patiently await you and when at last you came North again, it was clear to all how much you had grown. How mighty you had become, a great leader of men and we followed you gladly.  Now when you are abroad, as you too often are, it is I who has the duty of leading our people in your absence and I am honoured by the trust you have so often placed in me.

   Long years we have spent on the road together and many a cold, wet campsite have we shared as we trudged the wilds of Eriador. But when we at length returned to our homes, my heart always grieved that it was not your fate to find a wife among the Dúnedain. I have my own beloved and my dear sons to bring me succour in my lonely life, but you, my cousin, have no one to ease your cares and comfort your body. Hard are our lives, but harder still is yours. You push yourself unceasingly to achieve what you must. Only you understand what truly drives you, but your people know the purity of your heart and we will always stand beside you, whatever you ask of us.

   When lately we had word that you were in need of your kin, all who heeded the call came gladly to your aid, though we could not have known then how terrible was the path that you would lead us upon. On the day we left Rivendell in search for you, I was humbled that it was I whom your lady asked to carry the Standard of the King, made, she told me, with her own fair hand. No greater honour could she have bestowed upon me, yet I feared we would never find you as we rode through those empty plains of endless grassland. Great was our joy when we at last met on the fields of Rohan.

   Dark and long have been our days lately, but I count standing beside you in that bleak tower in the Hornburg as the darkest. That day, I knew more fear than at any time in all my years. What you went through in that encounter I can only guess, but you emerged the victor and now the Dark Lord knows his foe and he fears you.

    And so at last you can throw away your disguise and as a king you will ride to the White City, though you have ever been a king to those of us who know and love you. Aboard this Black Fleet, a great army sails under your command as finally we come to war. The City burns, as you long feared, but the day is yet young. We can still rout this spawn of Mordor.

    As the ships dock at the Harlond, I prepare to unfurl the banner of my lord. I can not prevent the tremble in my fingers as I untie the thongs that bind it tight around the staff. I have only to release it, and the White Tree of Gondor and the Crown of Elendil will once more fly free in the wind before the City of Kings.    

    I glance across at you as you stand beside your horse; your face grim and fell, your eyes ablaze; never have I seen their light burn so keenly as they do now as you await your destiny. On your brow is the Star of Elendil, in your hand is his sword, reforged and aflame, and on your breast, the Elessar.

    How great a lord have you become; my heart soars to behold you thus and I am suddenly overcome. I feel unworthy of the honour you have granted me. Without thought, I drop to one knee and, taking your hand in mine, I press your fingers to my lips. But gently you raise me to my feet. You smile and suddenly it is my companion of old I see before me once again. In your eyes now I see only love and I know without doubt that you would sacrifice your very life for me, as you would for any one of us.

    I shall offer no less.

    This is your hour, my friend; soon all shall behold the return of the king. You have laboured long and hard for this day and now may you find victory. I shall be there beside you, holding high the great black standard, and together we shall ride into battle. And if it is indeed my fate to give my life for you then it could not be given for greater cause.

   For you, my brother, there can be no higher honour.

~oo0oo~

Thus came Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elessar, Isildur’s heir, out of the Paths of the Dead, borne upon a wind from the Sea to the kingdom of Gondor… There came Legolas, and Gimli wielding his axe, Halbarad with the standard, Elladan and Elrohir with stars on their brow, and the dour-headed Dunedain, Rangers of the North, leading a great valour of the folk of… the South. But before all went Aragorn with the Flame of the West, Andúril like a new fire kindled, Narsil re-forged as deadly as of old; and upon his brow was the Star of Elendil.

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields                                                     The Return of the King