Aldarion & Erendis: Part 5: The Betrothal
Aldarion persuaded Erendis, who masked her dislike and fear, to sail with him to Andúnië to celebrate the hundred years of the Guild of Venturers. But, as the above quote implies, her true feelings made themselves known nonetheless.
After these celebrations, doubt filled Erendis’ mind once again. Prompting this doubt was Aldarion’s shift of focus to Rómenna, where he was occupied building great sea-walls, and the raising of a tall tower upon Tol Uinen called Calmindon, the Light-tower. Aldarion, however, returned to Erendis in hopes that she would accept his marriage proposal. Erendis asked him to travel through the island on land rather than by sea, raising the same concern that Tar-Meneldur had – that Aldarion did not know the land he was to rule one day.
During their travels, they had a crucial conversation. Erendis brought up the differences in their ageing, and their opposite views were on high display: Erendis claiming that Uinen was her enemy, and that she refused to share him with her.
Erendis told her mother Núneth of this conversation, and she offered the questionable advice that Erendis ended up disregarding (for the time being). Claiming that “a woman must share her husband's love with his work and the fire of his spirit, or make him a thing not loveable”, Núneth expressed her worry that Erendis would never marry if she did not set her own passions aside.
This advice proved ill-conceived, as later events show.
By the encouragement of Queen Almarian (and, by extension Núneth, who told her of the tidings), who feared that Aldarion would leave Númenor once again, Erendis returned to Armenelos. Aldarion and Erendis reconciled after yet another disagreement on the steep path down the Meneltarma (this is becoming a pattern by this point in the story we can’t help but notice).
In a moment of tenderness, she accepted him and set aside her fears. Upon their return, Aldarion presented Erendis to Tar-Meneldur as the betrothed of the King's Heir, which immensely delighted Meneldur; and he gifted Erendis land where a white house was built for her. Erendis would take no other betrothal gifts from Aldarion that he offered from his travels; she would only keep the silver fillet he had previously gifted her, which he bound on her forehead.
For a time, from this point in the year 858 of the Second Age, there were peaceful times in Armenelos and in all of Númenor. However, as we will see going forward, this didn’t last long…
