[Mithadan]

Elessar examined his image in a mirror and adjusted his mantle. An advisor had recommended that he wear the crown to this event; a recommendation which he ignored. The crown was heavy and did not fit well. It also tended to slip to one side if he did not mind it constantly. As he had during the private council sessions, he instead wore the Elendilmir bound to his brows.

The council sessions! His head still ached from the endless succession of complaints and claims. Dale sought trade opportunities with both Gondor as well as Harad and Nurn. That contingent would be satisfied with the contacts made during the meetings. Mirkwood sought little other than to be left alone as did Rivendell. The Shire had also sought little.

But Rhun presented problems. The representatives that nation had sent had little by way of a consensus concerning future relations. The sessions with the embassy from the East had begun and ended with distrust. While some had showed interest in trade, others seemed to foster continuing hostility towards the West.

Harad at least showed signs of a desire for improving relations. He had agreed to support the claim of the new King of Nurn and would aid the regimes of the South as they sought to quell civil unrest. Gondor would also facilitate trade with the South and help to establish safe routes between the kingdoms.

The issues raised by the Dwarves had been perhaps the most astonishing. Both the Blue Mountains and Erebor contingents had asked him to decide which had the best claim to Moria. He had informed them that matters of Dwarvish succession and hereditary claims were quite beyond the scope of his authority and that he would not presume to decide such issues. He offered instead to act as a mediator between the two groups; an offer he now regretted because the Dwarves had argued through the night and far into the morning about the merits of their claims before reaching the obvious conclusion that the retaking of Moria would require a cooperative effort between the kingdoms. He had declined to listen to their attempts to define "cooperative", instead suggesting that this subject would be a matter for future negotiation.

Arwen entered and advised that all was ready. They walked together to the grand ballroom. He fixed a smile upon his face and stepped forward as the Page announced, "The Lord Elessar Telcontar, King of the United Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor..."