After more than twenty days of marching, the great host at last crossed the towering Misty Mountains and came safely into the western lands.
Faces shone with joy. Laughter and song ran through the lines, for the burden of the pass was behind them. Yet Kaen, for all his strength, did not turn straight toward Rivendell. For the company was vast, too vast to press into the hidden valley.
Upon the banks of the Bruinen he took leave of Thaliondir. .
"I will send a thousand auxiliaries to help you bear the treasure back to Imladris. Give my greetings to my teacher. If time allows, I shall visit him—or else send a letter to seek his counsel."
Thaliondir bowed low. "It shall be done, my lord. May your road home be filled with bloom and sunlight."
So the two companies parted: one small, one great. Kaen pressed onward, guiding his immense retinue along the road to his own kingdom.
The year was 2942 of the Third Age, the month of March.
Ten full months had passed since Kaen had led forth his army upon the lonely road to Erebor.
And in those months, while he waged war and wandered, the kingdom of Eowenría had grown apace under the hands of his ministers, swift and ceaseless in their labors.
No sooner had Kaen reached the borders of his realm than he beheld wonders: what had been wilderness and waste was now a wide sea of fields, rich with crops that bore the promise of hope. The waters of the Bruinen had been drawn into irrigation channels, flowing in bright streams to nourish life.
The Caladhîn Elves who had followed from the Anduin, and the two regiments of bowmen, looked on with expectation. Peace, plenty, harvest, harmony—was this not the dream of all peoples?
A company of a hundred mounted archers came riding swiftly. They dismounted, and before Kaen knelt, voices trembling with fervor.
"Hail, Sire! Hail to your victorious return!"
"Rise," Kaen said gently, and his eyes glinted with pride. "Ride ahead. Announce to the whole kingdom: the army has returned in triumph!"
"Yes, my lord!" The captain's voice rang with zeal. He wheeled his horse and led his men forward, their banners bright.
Here lay the borderlands between Eowenría and Rivendell. Laden as they were with treasure and folk, their march was slow. It would take five days yet, to reach Aurienel Town on the eastern edge of Ashenwood Forest.
Yet they did not lodge in the wild. Village after village lay before them, offering hearth and rest. For since Kaen's departure the realm had only swelled in prosperity. The fame of Eowenría had spread throughout Eriador and the northern Westlands, and scattered hamlets one by one had chosen to bend the knee.
When Kaen had gone forth, the kingdom held but sixty thousand souls. Now its number had risen beyond half a million.
Of these, a hundred thousand dwelt about Azure Spring and its hinterlands; two hundred thousand around Elariel, Thalorien, Virelmar, and Aurienel, the four towns by the Ashenwood Forest; five tens of thousands, including the families of the expeditionary soldiers and many Dúnedain, had been brought into Elarothiel itself. The rest, a hundred and fifty thousand, were spread in hundreds of villages across the realm, breaking land for field and farm.
Thus it was that Elarothiel shone with such prosperity, becoming a power of renown in the northern world.
News of Kaen's victorious return sped like wind through the land. People and officials alike trembled with joy.
Aurienel, upon the eastern fringe of the Ashenwood Forest, had grown vast through many expansions, until it was near a city in size. Beneath its tall walls an uncountable host awaited their King.
The mayor commanded that flowers be strewn, carpeting three or four leagues of road in bloom, white petals set down in profusion.
And when the white birds of Artemis came wheeling from the East, the musicians upon the wall raised their flutes, and strings joined in a mighty anthem. The people lifted their voices in hymns
Tens of thousands sang as one. The sound was vast, rolling like thunder through heaven and earth.
Then from afar a white horse came galloping, a proud figure upon its back. Slowly Kaen's form grew clear, tall and mighty in bearing. Behind him in ordered ranks came the army, the sight of them striking awe into the hearts of all who beheld.
Kaen drew his sword and rode forward, his voice like a clarion:
"Courage and glory!"
And the soldiers roared as one: "For Eowenría!"
Again he cried: "Sacrifice and the sword!"
And they thundered back: "For Eowenría!"
Wave upon wave their battle-shouts rose, an answer to the people: this was the strength of their kingdom.
Many of the folk had never before laid eyes on their King. Yet a single glimpse was enough to stir their hearts, to bow them in spirit to the majesty of his presence.
"Look! That is our great King, the lord of Eowenría!"
"He is clad in light, he is the master of light!"
"See our army—so well-armed, so just!"
"Fortunate indeed am I to have joined this realm. They say no more new subjects are taken—truly, I am blessed."
"Are those Elves? By the stars, they are beautiful—men and women alike, fair beyond measure."
"Are they also his followers?"
"I have heard our King is as a brother to the Lord of Rivendell."
"But is he not fairer even than Elves? I shall keep this vision in my heart forever."
So Kaen and his host entered Aurienel through its eastern gate, and the people thronged to behold them.
Yet Elarothiel still lay three days' march away, through the Ashenwood Forest. So Kaen tarried a day in Aurienel.
There he disbanded the expeditionary host, ordering each captain to return their soldiers to garrison. When they had settled their men and held their feasts, they would bring the rolls of names, the lists of fallen, the records of supplies—into Elarothiel, to join the great King's banquet.
The next day Kaen set forth again, taking with him Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo Baggins, Lairon, Ameliah, Tauriel, Yenistriel, Cathril, Artemis, ten guardsmen of the household, a hundred Rangers, a hundred healers, and twenty thousand Caladhîn Elves.
With them went thousands of wains laden with treasure, worth untold fortunes in gold.
From Aurienel's western gate they passed into the green-lit paths of the Ashenwood Forest.
Much had changed in a year. The realm outside was already rich and full, but all longed to see with their own eyes the hidden heart of the kingdom—Elarothiel. What beauty and grandeur awaited there, after near a year of ceaseless building?
All hearts were filled with expectation.