Chapter the Seventeenth:

In Which Finrod Makes a Confession and Seating Arrangements are Discussed

As the following day was Elenya, both Arafinwë and Finrod had court in the morning, followed by a luncheon meeting with the Privy Council. As Cáno of Tol Eressëa, Sador was asked to attend the council meeting to discuss matters of mutual interest to the Tol Eressëans and the Noldor. Ingwion and Glorfindel were also in attendance as representatives of Ingwë and Eärendil, respectively. Vorondil was permitted to attend, acting as squire to Finrod and Sador, while Ingalaurë and Intarion were also on hand to attend to Ingwion and Glorfindel.

"Mainly because I don’t trust them out of my sight," Ingwion confided to Arafinwë and Finrod when he asked the Noldóran for permission to allow the two Vanyarin Reborn to attend. "And Atar has begun allowing them both to attend some of his council meetings anyway, thinking that it will help mature them faster if they are given some minor responsibilities. He always quizzes them afterwards about what was said and why."

"Then I will continue the practice," Arafinwë said. "Let them know that I will ask them about the meeting afterwards." He turned to Finrod. "And to make it fair, let Vorondil know that he, too, will be quizzed." Finrod nodded.

"I’m surprised Vondo isn’t here as well," Ingwion said.

"He is with Aldundil and Herendil going over estate accounts," Finrod explained. "Vondo is, after all, Herendil’s heir. Aldundil insisted on that once his brother was released from Lórien, though it will be some time before he is capable of assuming that role for real."

So it was late afternoon before any of them were free to pursue their own pleasures. Once the council meeting was adjourned, Arafinwë dismissed everyone except Vorondil, Ingalaurë and Intarion, inviting them to his study while Finrod, Glorfindel, Ingwion and Sador retired to the lower gardens, sitting under an arbor overlooking an ornamental pool surrounded by a riot of late spring flowers.

"So tell me what you have been up to," Sador demanded of Finrod once they were settled. "We’ve been so busy being public since my arrival we haven’t really had a chance to discuss things. Just what did Atar mean about you and Glorfindel causing your own brand of trouble?"

Finrod sighed and proceeded to tell him what had been happening with Glorfindel and Ingwion adding their own bits. Sador did not interrupt other than to ask a clarifying question or two. Once the story was told they sat there in silence for a time, each lost in his own thoughts. Finally Sador stirred and gave them a smile.

"Does Ammë Eärwen know she has fourteen guests more than she’s planning for? And where will you seat them?"

The other three ellyn stared at him blankly for a moment and then Finrod groaned and Glorfindel and Ingwion grinned.

"I didn’t think about that," Finrod admitted. "Do you think we should tell her?"

Now the others gave him a surprised look, for he had sounded even younger than Vorondil at that moment.

"It would be rather fun to see everyone’s expression when they show up unannounced," Glorfindel opined.

"But I would hate for them to be embarrassed because their names are not officially on the guest list," Sador pointed out.

"But who would deny the Valar the right to attend?" Glorfindel countered.

"No one," Sador admitted, "and yet, if there are no provisions made for them with regards to seating at the feast...."

Finrod closed his eyes, leaning back against the bench. "Even when I’m trying to do something right, it comes out wrong."

"You are being too hard on yourself, Cousin," Ingwion admonished him, "but Sador does have a point and I should have thought of it myself when you told me about the invitations." He gave them a rueful look.

"The point is, how best to let Ammë and Atar know so there are no surprises," Sador said.

"I think we... I will just have to come out and tell them," Finrod said, scowling. "You know, when Ammë first asked me who among the Tol Eressëans I wished invited to the wedding, I should have asked her about the Valar, but I guess I just assumed they would be invited."

"They were not invited to my wedding," Ingwion said, "at least not formally, though they did give Olwen and me gifts, but it was afterwards."

"Was there a reason why they weren’t invited?" Glorfindel asked.

Ingwion shrugged. "I never got around to asking. It was all I could do to make it to my own wedding on time, as you may recall. I apologized to them afterwards but they assured me they were not offended. Still...."

"We take them for granted, or rather we do our best to ignore them," Sador said. "The Tol Eressëans are still unused to seeing even Maiar show up, never mind any of the Valar."

"It is less so for the Vanyar, since we are closer to them, both physically and... spiritually, I suppose you can say," Ingwion said, "but even so, I think only those who live in Eldamas and attend to the Valar directly ever really feel comfortable around them."

The others nodded. Finrod stood up. "Well, as they say, there’s no time like the present. I had better track down Ammë and let her know." He gave them a sour grin. "Is there such a thing as a high high table?"

The others laughed and stood as well. "We’ll all go and lend you moral support," Ingwion said.

"Or at the least, help support you to the healing wing after Ammë’s through with you," Glorfindel quipped. Sador slapped him upside the head before either Finrod or Ingwion had the chance. Glorfindel’s grin was unrepentant.

****

They found the Queen in her office, a small suite of rooms from which she ruled the royal household, her ladies-in-waiting acting as her lieutenants, overseeing the running of the palace and keeping tabs on the welfare of the populace. She looked up in surprise to see them but quickly dismissed her staff to give them privacy when she noticed the sheepish looks on Finrod’s and Glorfindel’s faces.

"All right, what did you do?" she asked, deciding to get right to the point as the four ellyn took seats before her.

"Nothing bad, I promise, Ammë," Finrod answered, "but do you remember when you left Glorfindel and me to check over the invitations?"

"Yes, and you both saved me a great deal of time in doing so and I thank you," Eärwen replied. "Something tells me, though, that there’s more to it."

Finrod nodded. "When we were going over the list, I noticed that the Valar were not on it. I figured it was an oversight, so I asked Glorfindel to write up some invitations specifically for them."

Eärwen gave them a frown. "I don’t recall seeing any...."

"They were tied together with blue ribbon," Glorfindel said. "I put them in the basket labeled for Eldamas and Vanyamar."

"I have heard nothing from them, though," Eärwen said. "The invitations specifically state that the recipient should respond so I know exactly how many will be attending, though I cannot imagine anyone purposely missing this particular wedding."

"Ah.... a response was required?" Glorfindel asked, looking upset.

Finrod gave him a shrewd look. "You did send them the same invitation as everyone else, did you not? You were writing them out when I left to attend to Vondo."

"Well, I wrote invitations, but not word for word. I kept messing it up and it was just too convoluted, so I just asked them to come to the wedding." He gave them an almost belligerent look.

"So they are not likely to respond, not knowing that they should," Eärwen said, looking more relieved. "Then perhaps we need not worry about them showing up."

"But Lord Námo thanked Glorfindel and me personally for the invitations," Finrod said. "I would not assume they would not show up just because they don’t specifically state that they will. You had better add them to the guest list just to be safe."

Eärwen scowled at them. "And where do I seat them? Do you know what a headache this wedding already is trying to decide who should and who should not be seated above the salt? As it is, the high table is already too crowded."

"At every other royal wedding, only the immediate families of the bride and groom along with the witnesses sat at the high table. Everyone else was seated below the salt and no one seemed to mind. Why should they mind here?" Finrod asked.

"But these are the Valar!" Eärwen exclaimed. "I can’t just seat them wherever I can find room."

"They may not even attend the feast," Ingwion pointed out. "They rarely eat or drink with any of us except on the high feast days. They may simply attend the ceremony and give Findaráto and Amarië their blessing before leaving."

"Yet I must still plan for the eventuality of them remaining for the feast," Eärwen protested, throwing up her hands in defeat. "As it is, I’ve already determined that there are too many of us to all fit in the feast hall or even the ballroom. Some of the guests will have to dine outside under pavilions and I’m pulling my hair out trying to figure out seating arrangements that will not offend half the population of Eldamar."

"Why not have everyone eat outside?" Finrod asked. "I think that would solve one problem. We’ll mark one pavilion as the... um... high pavilion where our family, Amarië’s family and the witnesses will eat, along with the other royals and Sador and Eärendil as heads of state with their families."

"Then just have everyone choose whichever pavilion they please and sit with whomever they please," Sador added. "As long as you have enough tables and chairs laid out, what will it matter?"

"Except, I had planned to have those who were placed in the pavilions catered to by the Cooks’ Guild," Eärwen said. "It would be impossible for our staff to be running back and forth between the feast hall and the gardens serving everyone. The Master of the Cooks’ Guild has agreed to lend us his people. We will be setting up a second kitchen outside. There simply isn’t enough room anywhere on the palace grounds for everyone who will be attending."

"So have the feast somewhere else," Glorfindel said.

"And where do you suggest we have it?" Eärwen asked.

"Finwë Park," Glorfindel answered readily enough. "If you were planning to set up an outside kitchen anyway, why not set up two or three as needed? Have the pavilions in the park and, as Sador suggested, just designate one as the pavilion for the wedding party and the royal families along with Sador and Eärendil and let the rest fend for themselves, including the Valar. I sometimes have the feeling they would just like to be considered regular folk, neighbors, if you will, instead of the ultimate rulers of all of Arda."

Eärwen gave him a jaundiced look, but Finrod and Sador were both nodding in agreement; Ingwion’s expression was more thoughtful.

"I still have the problem of seating," Eärwen said. "When it was just the three realms, I would have had no problem knowing who should sit where and with whom, but with the addition of Tol Eressëa and Aewellond, the order of precedence established long ago no longer applies."

"Then, employ the same system that is used in the All-Aman General Council in seating people," Sador suggested. "Give each pavilion, other than the one designated for the wedding party, a color. You know how many people will be coming and you know how many can fit within a pavilion. Have the requisite number of stones made for each color and allow people to draw their seating by lottery. There will be plenty of people attending who are already used to the system from attending the Council and would not find it objectionable."

The Queen sighed, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. When she opened her eyes she gave her son a wry look. "Are you sure you wouldn’t like to just run off to Aewellond with Amarië?"

Finrod laughed and stood to give her a kiss on the cheek. "But you’re having so much fun," he said teasingly, "and we wouldn’t want to disappoint Almáriel, would we?"

"The Valar save us, no!" Eärwen exclaimed. "I will think about your suggestions and speak with your atar and Marilla about the logistics. I had planned to have the ceremony itself in the gardens, but perhaps we should just move everything to Finwë Park for convenience."

Finrod shrugged, resuming his seat. "It matters not to me, but I think if we go to the park, we should do so publicly and process through the streets so the people can see us instead of taking the tunnel."

"Have the ceremony in the square before the palace," Ingwion suggested. "That way, the people can come and hear your vows before they scatter to their own amusements while we continue down to the park. Then they will feel as if they’ve been a part of the wedding even if not formally invited. Remember those people at the inn where Intarion was hurt? They were resentful of the fact that they would not be invited to the wedding."

"Well, the ellith, certainly," Finrod said with a cold smile. "I got the impression the ellyn didn’t care."

Eärwen nodded. "I will discuss this with the King but I suspect he will go along with your idea. Now I had better call back my people," she said with a smile. "We were in the middle of a meeting discussing educational requirements for apprentices. I’ve decided they will need to show fluency in Sindarin before they are admitted into any apprenticeship program."

Finrod, Glorfindel and Sador all exclaimed in surprise. "You’ve finally decided to accept our suggestion after all these years? Why now?"

"Nothing is ever done hastily, yonya," Eärwen said with an amused look on her face, "especially where governments are concerned. As it is, I know that Lord Irmo will no longer accept any apprentice unless they can show fluency in Quenya and Sindarin. On Tol Eressëa they already have a language program in place and I’ve been studying it to see how effective it is and how we may adapt it to our own needs. There are very few Sindarin speakers among the mainlanders and we will need to import teachers, at least at first. This is what the next meeting with the guildmasters will be about that Netilmírë wishes to attend." This last was directed at Sador who nodded.

"What about the Lambengolmor?" Glorfindel asked. "I would think they would be of service."

Eärwen shook her head. "The head of the school was less interested in helping me devise a program and more interested in telling me why Sindarin as a language shouldn’t work."

"Excuse me?" Glorfindel asked in disbelief. The others all looked equally nonplused.

The Queen shrugged. "I am as much in the dark as you, yonya," she admitted. "It seems that the prevailing thought among the learned is that Sindarin is a debased tongue. The lambengolmor are more interested in tracing the roots of the... er... debasement from the purity of Quenya than they are in helping us teach the language."

"Do they even know the language?" Sador asked.

"Oh, the headmaster assured me that many of his people are quite fluent in the language, including himself," Eärwen replied, then gave them a slightly wicked smile, "but when I switched to Sindarin in the middle of our conversation, he gave me a rather blank look and asked me to repeat myself slowly."

They snickered at that and Finrod rolled his eyes. "Well, we’ll let you get on with your meeting then," he said. "I’m sorry I didn’t think to tell you about inviting the Valar sooner, but with everything else that’s happened...."

"It’s all right, Finda," Eärwen said with a smile. "I’m glad you told me now instead of five minutes before the ceremony would begin. Now off with you and let me get back to work."

All four ellyn rose and gave her respectful bows before exiting. They headed down the corridor and met Vorondil, Ingalaurë and Intarion coming the other way. "Ah... and how did you three fare with my atar?" Finrod asked, throwing an arm around Vorondil as they continued walking.

"Our cousin is very hard to please," Ingalaurë replied for them all. "He grilled us worse than Atto."

"Even Lord Irmo isn’t that bad," Vorondil added.

"I’ll be sure to tell him so," Finrod said with a laugh. "He’ll be pleased at the comparison."

"So what are we going to do now?" Intarion asked. "Can we do something fun?"

Before anyone else could make a suggestion Sador spoke. "I know this has nothing to do with the wedding or anything, but I’m thinking I’d like to give these lambengolmor a language lesson the way Ingwion gave that music lesson."

"Whatever for?" Ingalaurë asked.

"And just how do you propose to give it?" Ingwion added.

"Well, I’m assuming the wedding ceremony will be in Quenya," Sador replied and Finrod nodded. "Then I’m assuming you plan to have interpreters for those of Tol Eressëa who have not yet mastered Quenya but will be attending the wedding."

Finrod raised an eyebrow. "Very few and mostly Nandor but there will be those who know both languages and can act as interpreters."

Sador nodded. "And that is well, but what if the ceremony were conducted in both languages?"

"You mean have everything said twice?" Vorondil asked incredulously.

"Even if we did it that way, what would it prove, other than we’re being polite to our Sindarin-speaking friends?" Glorfindel commented.

"I don’t know, probably nothing," Sador admitted. "But when Ammë told us about the attitude of the lambengolmor...."

Finrod put an arm around Sador’s shoulders. "Sador, hanno, these people and their prejudices are nothing to get upset about. None of them have actually bothered to live the language; they’ve merely been studying it and in their eyes, Sindarin is a debased version of Quenya. Nothing we do will truly change that attitude. But I rather like the idea of having the ceremony done in both languages."

"I’m still curious to know how you planned to... um... lesson these so-called learned ones," Ingwion said.

"Will the head of the Lambengolmor be in attendance with the other guildmasters at the meeting next week?" Sador asked Finrod.

"I do not think so," Finrod answered with a shrug. "The Lambengolmor are not considered a guild, merely one of the departments in the Academy for loremasters."

"Are you suggesting that everyone at the meeting speak Sindarin?" Glorfindel asked. "I don’t think many of the guildmasters do, though I suspect they will have to learn it eventually once Ammë institutes her language program. No sense having the apprentices learn it if the masters won’t."

Everyone nodded in agreement with that. Sador shrugged. "Oh well, I just thought...."

"Maybe we can come up with something," Finrod said with a sympathetic smile, "but in the meantime, I’m with Intarion. Why don’t we go do something fun."

"Like what?" Ingwion asked.

"Atar told me he’s had the pottery workshop opened for me," Sador said, giving them a smile. "How would you like to play with clay?"

The eyes of all the Reborn, including Finrod, brightened and Vorondil, who was usually lumped in with the Reborn because of his unique status of having been Judged by the Valar, gave a crow of delight. Ingwion, the only true Once-born in the group, rolled his eyes. "Let’s change out of our court garb first," was all he said.

There was a sudden mad scramble as everyone raced to their rooms to change, with much laughter between them. Within half an hour they were all elbow deep in clay, each happily working on his own project.

****

Lambengolmor: Loremasters of Tongues, i.e. linguists. According to Tolkien this particular school was founded by Fëanor.