Chapter 3: The Prince Consort

Gandalf gave a slight bow back to the two Lords which had just appeared. The rest of the Fellowship followed his example and Lady Vespera gave a nod to the twins before leaving down the stairs into the city- which lead from the balcony on both sides- her footsteps silent as she disappeared quickly from their eyes.

"The Princes' are awaiting your arrival," one of the twins said- Gandalf could not tell which was Lord Caster and which Lord Pollux was. They were more identical than Elladan and Elrohir, which Gandalf would have thought impossible before this.

"Well, we shouldn't keep them waiting then," Gandalf said with a kind smile. The twin Lords dropped their cat like smiles for something a little more friendly and began to lead them down the stairs, the opposite stairs to which Lady Vespera took. They went down the stairs into the streets of the city. They were able to see the building up close. The walls were made of heavy stone – had arched doorways and windows- every so often an arch would spread over them which had blue stain draped attached on either side. Apart from the trees and vines on the buildings there seemed to be very little plant life. The pathways were stone and seemed to have silver veins running through the stone. However, the pathway was perfectly smooth and even when the path dipped there were steps to keep everything neat.

The buildings roofs varied- some where flat and plain, others were rounded and seemed to shimmer blue and silver. Vines grew on some of the buildings- seemingly emitting a glow- but other than the vines and drapes the building designs were quite simple. A few carvings above some archways but certainly less detailed than the Elven cities in Middle Earth but still beautiful and elegant in a way which most cities of Men were not.

Aragorn seemed to gain some confidence after a while of following the twin Lords, which even walked in unison, and asked, "These buildings- what design are they? I've never seen anything like it."

The twins turned and glanced back to the Fellowship and looked at one another in confusion before answering.

"The High Prince says they remind him-," one started.

"Of the buildings of the Arabian Nights," the other finished.

"The Prince Consort says it reminds him of Aladdin," they then said as an afterthought but the amusement danced in their eyes.

"Prince Consort? High Prince?" Aragorn murmured.

"We are ruled by the High Prince and his Consort," the Lords replied in perfect sync.

"How come they don't call themselves King or a title such as that? They do rule after all," Gimli said in his gruff voice. Usually when a royal refused to take the title of King or something it was because they didn't have a legitimate claim to the throne but there was no other option for rule at the moment so they would rule with a lesser title.

"The High Prince felt the title was too generic and despite his own title technically showing superiority to his Consort's title, the both rule equally. The High Prince is just better with dealing with politics and such than the Prince Consort," one of the Lord's answered, this time without switching with his brother.

After a little more walking they entered a pathway which opened into a small garden, what appeared to be roses on each side of the path. The roses were blue with white steams and leaves. Some of the petals had come off of the plant and lay on the floor in a blue haze. It was probably the darkest colour they had seen since entering the city. Everything gave off a glow which reminded them of the moon and its silvery light. These petals were a dark navy blue which seemed almost like the night sky- it seemed quite fitting.

"You shall meet the Prince Consort first," one of their guides spoke up.

They entered through some grand double doors at the end of the pathway- the petals swirling inside as the doors shut with a bang behind them. The room in front of them was a simple stone room, it had stairs leading from an archway in front of them, and small bowls with petals, water, and what looked like dried fruit were sat on each step at the side. Midway down the steps was a flat bit which had a stone throne on it. It was particularly grand but had some carving etched into it. There were some stray petals on the seat. Around the chamber there were drapes on different shades of blue, white and silver handing down, all swaying slightly in the gentle breeze. The chamber was lit up by the strange blue light which swirled above them like fireflies.

The archway's drapes seemed to give an ominous swirl as whispers seemed to sound from behind the veil of fabric. Rose petals seemed to blow through the veil towards the throne and swirled around the air for a moment- the rose petals were a dark blue- almost black- and they grew close together and seemed to form a figure sat on the throne. The room started to grow darker and a blue light seemed to shine into the room and the form began to solidify and a flash of green shocked everyone watching and they saw two eyes looking at them before the petals fell away to the floor leaving a man sat in the chair.

The man had long black hair which fell in curls to his mid back, the front strands were pulled round the back of his head and away from his striking face. His face was pale but seemed to hold more of a darker tone than the others they had met. His piercing green eyes were unblinking as they took in the Fellowship. The pupil split as with the others. The elf ears that could be seen on the others were proudly on display with this man too, in of the lobs though was an earring; it was long and silver and seemed to show some flowers and vines before transforming into a raindrop. His other ear was bare of jewellery. His form was tall and strong, though not well muscled, but the Fellowship were under no illusion that he could defend himself if need be.

His clothing differed from what the others wore, which appeared to be more amour than anything; this man's clothes seemed quite feminine. He wore a breast plate of silver metal which had a rich thick fabric coming from the bottom to form a skirt of sorts, his feet were bare but jewellery adorned the right foot, an anklet which linked down to a toe ring which seemed to cover the big toe. The material was a combination of blue and silver but had a veil material over it. His arms were covered by what appeared to be a robe, which seemed to have a hood on it. The breast plate came up to just above the nipples and showed off a flawless pale chest. And sat on the man's forehead was a diadem, the blue stone surrounded by silver metal.

"Welcome," the man said in a rich tone while nodding his head towards them, "I am the Prince Consort, Haru."

"Greetings, I am Gandalf the White," Gandalf began and then introduced everyone to this being. He seemed more ethereal than the others- while Lady Vespera seemed to radiate a darkness and danger and the twin Lords seemed to radiate danger with mischief this man seemed to radiate strength and peace.

"I assume you wonder why you have being summoned to us and who we are," Prince Haru spoke clearly and received several affirmative responses.

"I can only tell you so much information as we are not able to tell you everything, but do know that we are here to help you win this war," Prince Haru continued, "We are an older race of elves called the Dark Ones, and despite the name we are not evil. We gained the name because our Kingdom is Fangorn Forest and the City of Nihilum. It seemed fitting to our ancestors for this to be our name."

"How come we haven't hard of you before now?" Gandalf asked.

"The race is one which had long since left the main lands of Middle Earth to find new adventures. I suppose you could describe the race as one of War- we go were there is a fight were we are needed. Until now we were not needed," Prince Haru explained, his voice taking on an almost hypotonic tone.

"What about the first war with Sauron? Where was your race then?" Legolas questioned, his tone bordering on angry.

"The race was watching but you had that under control. It is not our job to step in for every scuffle between races," Prince Haru commented, his own tone not changing, but his eyes taking in the tense bodies which formed at his words.

"If you don't mind me asking, why step in now and not earlier?" Gandalf asked calmly.

"We were not ready to step in, despite my heritage I am only 29 years old," Prince Haru stated receiving the shocked gasp from the group.

"How do expect to be of any assistance to us then?" Gimli boomed.

"Silence dwarf," Haru stated as his eyes glowed slightly and his voice echoed around the chamber, "do not presume that since I am younger than you that I am incapable of anything. This is the second war I have being involved in and it certainly won't be the last. When you have long become dust in the wind I shall have survived and be fighting in wars deadlier than your simple mind can imagine."

Prince Haru held his hand to the side and once more petals formed and moulded themselves into the shape of a long sword, its blade incredibly thin but wickedly sharp. The blade soon was solid in the Prince's hand and the black edge of the blade almost invisible to the eyes.

"Remember, there is a reason why we were called here. You cannot win this war on your own," Prince Haru stated in a hiss, "Now, my husband will see you."

And with those words the Dark Elven Prince disappeared in a shower of rose petals which gentle fluttered to the floor.

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Harry's appearance if like that of Jaye Davidson's of Ra in the Stargate film. So please use that as a reference. His method of appearance is inspired by the Japanese tokusatsu 'Kamen Rider Kiva' and Maya's teleportation power which is basically she can appear and disappear in the shower of petals. The diadem in my mind is a recreation of the Ravenclaw diadem.

Harry's name means sun light and is Japanese in origin.

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