"Aye," he said. "Much has been accomplished since that day, but not all that we had hoped."
"I see we will have many tales to exchange," said Isildur. "Now come into my hall, if you please, Lords, and we shall endeavor to make you feel welcome." And he led them up the broad stairs to his hall.
"This is a wondrous fair city, Isildur," Amroth said. "We marvelled much when we first saw it. The towers seem to scrape the sky."
"There are more wonders within," said Elrond. "You have yet to see the Dome of Stars. I have never seen a more beautiful hall. You would think you were in Eldamar."
"Such a sight I would gladly see," said Amroth, but Barathor took his leave, saying he wished to deliver the glad tidings himself to those of his people who had remained in Osgiliath.
"Farewell, Lords of the Firstborn," he called. "And to you and all your folk goes the honor and praise of a grateful people. You will not be forgotten while Pelargir stands upon its hill."
"Your thanks are not necessary, Lord Barathor," said Cirdan. "Your enemies are ours. For are we not allies in a common cause? Your steadfast courage is known even in far-off Lindon, and we know you would come to our aid at need. And indeed you may get many opportunities in the days to come."
"Farewell, Barathor," said Isildur. "And the council will be in the Dome of Stars at the second hour tomorrow."
"I shall be there, you may be sure. Farewell, my king." And Barathor led his men back to the fields near the southern gate where they had decamped but a few hours before.
Isildur showed the others into his hall, and there they were met by Celeborn and Galadriel, both dressed all in white. Celeborn wore a simple circlet of mithril about his brow, and the Lady had a garland of blossoms twined in her hair. She smiled at sight of them and came forward with open arms.
"Welcome, cousins," she said in her melodious voice. "Elen síla lúmenn omentilmo."
Lord Cirdan bowed deeply. "Surely, lovely Lady," he said, "a star does indeed shine on our meeting. I am heartened to see you and your people here in our common need. It has been many yén since last we met."
"So it has, Shipwright," said Celeborn. "We none of us travel so much as we were once wont, since these evil days have come upon the world. May all soon be again as it once was."
"And Amroth," said Galadriel to the Sindarin lord, "our neighbor of old. Long have you been away from the Golden Wood."
"Yes, Lady," he replied, "I have travelled much since I left my home in Lothlórien, and I have seen much of the world — some that was fair and some that was horrible to look upon."
"There is something fair in the Golden Wood that pines for a sight of you, Amroth," said Galadriel with a smile.
Amroth flushed. "How is my Nimrodel?" he asked.
"Lovelier than ever," said Celeborn, "and when any traveller comes to the Wood she asks for news of you."
"I would that I could come unto her again, but this war sends me ever hither and yon. I shall not return to Cerin Amroth until either Sauron is defeated or I lay slain."
"Let us pray it is the former," said Celeborn, "and not long delayed. Too long has that spawn of Melkor defiled the land. We too are come here to Osgiliath to see this through to the end."
"And I," said Cirdan.
"And so for all of us," said Isildur. "But that is for tomorrow. For tonight let us rest and take food and wine and such comforts as I can offer you."
"Yes, certainly," said Amroth. "But first let us see this famous chamber that Elrond praises so highly."
Isildur led them through several wide passages until he came to a pair of great oaken doors that stretched nearly to the high vaulted roof. He set his hand to one of the doors and it swung back silently and effortlessly. They entered the Dome of Stars and stopped, struck by the beauty around them.
They stood in silence, heads craned back, slowly turning about to view the entire sky.
"Look there," Amroth said, pointing. "There is Menelvagor the Swordsman with his belt. How the Pommel Star shines in his upraised hand. It must be a great ruby."
"And there above him the netted Remmirath," exclaimed Cirdan. "Isildur, I have gazed at the stars a thousand thousand nights, but they have never appeared more fair than this. Their beauty rivals nature's."
"It is my father's design," Isildur smiled. "He built it to honor the stars for guiding us safely back to Middle-earth after the downfall of Númenor. The stars are as they were when seen from the peak of Meneltarma in the midst of Númenor."
"This is a great treasure, Isildur," said Cirdan.
"Other treasures the Gondorrim have in this hall," said Celeborn. "Isildur showed us the great master palantír of Fëanor."
"That is rumored to be among the greatest of all the works made by the Elves in the Elder Days," said Cirdan. "Would it be permitted to view it?"
"Of course," bowed Isildur. "I have it in my inner sanctum. And perhaps that would be a safer place to discuss other matters close to our hearts."
A significant glance passed among the Lords. They accompanied Isildur into a small dark chamber lit by a single hanging lamp. In its center stood a short marble column shrouded in dark velvet. Isildur drew away the cloth, revealing a crystal globe..
"This is the Master Stone," said Isildur, "the only palantír that can speak to each of the others. Watch you the globe." He stood by the column and laid his hands on either side of it. They all gathered around and watched intently as the darkness within the crystal swirled and cleared. Tiny shapes seemed to move and form within the mists. Then Amroth found himself looking out from a high place over a walled city. The city clung to a steep rocky slope at the head of a mountain valley. It dropped down step after step, each level ringed by its own wall. A road wound down from level to level, emerging finally from a massive gate and stretching away across a wide rolling land. In the distance he could see an even greater city with many towers and a river flowing through it. Suddenly he recognized that distant city.
"Why that is Osgiliath!" he cried. "I am over a mountain fortress, but I can see Osgiliath in the distance. I can make out the dome of the very hall where we now stand."
"You must be seeing the Anor stone, Lord Amroth," said Isildur. "That is in the city of Minas Anor to the west, in the Ered Nimrais. You may have seen it high above you as you approached Osgiliath."
"I see a great rocky valley," said Galadriel, looking into the stone from the other side. "A mighty spire of black rock thrusts up from its midst. That can only be Orthanc, in the valley of Angrenost. It is as if I were flying high above it."
"I see something different," said Elrond. "I see a wide land of brown hills amid scattered forests. One hill, standing alone, is crowned by a stone tower. I seem to be flying toward it. Why, surely that is Amon Sûl, not far from my home in Imladris. How strange to see it from above."
"I see a great walled city beside a lake," said Celeborn. "That can only be Elendil's city of Annúminas by Lake Nenuial."
Cirdan stood in silence, then he murmured quietly. "I see beyond this mortal world, to the mountains of Eldamar, far Elvenhome across the sea."
"That would be the view from the Tower Hills," said Isildur. "On the western borders of my father's kingdom of Arnor. From that stone alone can Eldamar be seen from Middle Earth."
Isildur too looked in the stone, but he saw through the Ithil stone, now on the plains of Gorgoroth, and of what he saw he spoke not. Then he took his hands away and stepped back and the stone again grew dark.
"You have shown us great wonders, Isildur," said Cirdan, "Yet I believe that the stone is perhaps not the greatest treasure in this chamber today."
Galadriel looked at him gravely. "Have you then brought your burden as Gil-galad asked, Shipwright?"