Tolkien Fan Fiction
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| Chapter Two |
| Preparations were underway for the long lunch the Amrothian party were hosting on the second day of Yule. Gallend and Hadán were expected from Minas Tirith most likely late that evening or possibly the next day. Amrothos would then escort Frea, her daughter and Galador back to Minas Tirith but the rest, including Lothíriel, would leave for the long journey to Elbrond and the execution of Gallend’s father. The trial had taken place only days after the Battle of the Brown Lands when Éomer arrived in Elbrond with his Marshals, Erkenbrand and Elfhelm. Conducted by Elfhelm as the most senior and impartial Marshal of the East Mark, the evidence against Galbrand had been overwhelming. There had been no need even for Gallend’s testimony. Gallend had long had a spy close to his father, his testimony alone would have been enough as witness to Galbrand’s deal with the Astari to assassinate Éomer if he returned from the Brown Lands, however, there were also those loyal to Erkenbrand who had been instructed to aid Maglor and Gallend prevent any unprovoked raid on a Dunlending village which would push the Dunlendings into a retaliatory attack. The survivors of those men Galbrand had paid to make it appear the Dunlendings had broken the peace treaty had testified in their turn against their lord. Éomer had pronounced the only verdict for such treason he could, and the date was set after the traditional Yule celebrations so that Gallend could be present. It was with this shadow hanging over them that the Amrothians had prepared the lunch for those they regarded as their Rohirric family while they waited for the others to arrive from Minas Tirith. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Éomer’s family house and the new Amrothian residence were similar in style and elegance. Both had large, sunny terraces which overlooked the gardens leading to the Elven Pools. It was a fitting spot to celebrate the engagement of his aunt to his most trusted advisor with one of their best wines. The wine had just been served and glasses raised, when a sudden scream of intense anger rented the air around both houses interrupting the traditional toasts of congratulations, followed by a loud crash of masonry falling onto stone which could only have come from the new Amrothian residence. The screaming continued together with sounds of a vicious fight as Éomer, leading the charge, rounded the corner bringing the house into his view. As he made to jump over the nearest balustrade, a huge black horse, almost leaping over him, landed on to the large terrace of the Amrothian residence. Maglor descended gracefully from Maela in front of Lothíriel, unsheathing his sword. He threw it at her to catch and waited. Amrothos rushed over to Éomer and the others as they arrived and warned them not to interfere. Looking somewhat pummelled, Amrothos seemed mightily relieved to see Maglor for once. She attacked. She was screaming in Quenya in a total fury. Unlike when she had been in battle, this was not controlled anger. Maglor looked amused, as far as his melted face allowed such an expression. Some moments later, two other horses and their riders appeared from the front of the house. Hadán and Gallend jumped down to join the group. Hadán drew his sword and threw it at Maglor who had been skilfully fending off Lothíriel with just his sword guard. Gallend collared Amrothos. ‘You told her, you told her about the children?’ Amrothos looked shocked. ‘You can’t know about them, only Elphir and I know who they are,’ he said, distracted momentarily from the fight between Lothíriel and Maglor. ‘Maglor heard her shouting at you when we were approaching the town and he shot off on Maela to take the back route through the hills to the gardens.’ They left it at that to watch the show. Hadán was prowling protectively around them, clearly anxious. She was fearsome in her rage. Éomer wondered if he would have the speed and strength to overcome her in this state and was sure he would not have been able to do so without hurting her. He looked around the terrace, smashed stone pots and decorative statues were strewn around as Lothíriel vented her ire on Maglor. Having heard the disturbance as far as the stables, the imposing figure of Genting strode over to the fighting pair. ‘Lothíriel,’ he boomed forcefully, ‘Stop this!’ he commanded. ‘You are frightening the horses.’ She paused, shaking, attempting to regain control. She threw down the sword petulantly, turned and grabbed the one remaining statue on the terrace. ‘I want my family back,’ she screamed as she threw it violently into the nearest wall. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hadán looked at Maglor who nodded. He walked over to her calmly and put his arms around her. She tensed initially but she shuddered into stilted breathing, tears of frustration forming in her eyes as she fought to compose herself. She pounded Hadán hard in the chest, crying out, ‘No more lies, I’ve had enough.’ Hadán just held her tenderly, waiting for her to relax into him. Unaware of anyone else being there until she had sufficiently calmed herself, she soon stood mortified by the level of destruction around her and very conscious of the wary looks of those who had witnessed her loss of control. Amrothos, observing the bemused Rohirrim somewhat wryly, simply said with a hint of victory, ‘Well, you were warned she could be destructive... Erm, Frea, my love,’ he said taking her hand and kissing it. ‘Éowyn, Éomer, we need to talk to you. Éowyn, this is of greatest importance to you, and we will need your understanding. Lady Adriel, Lady Morwyn, Delwine, please join us inside.’ While nodding his agreement, Éomer first walked over to Hadán and Lothíriel, to relieve a somewhat chastened Lothíriel from Hadán’s arms; he let her go as soon as Éomer approached and went to retrieve his sword from Maglor, while Gallend discreetly moved to help Genting with the horses. ‘Remind me never to upset you, my love,’ he joked, taking her chin in his hand and forcing her to look at him as he smiled down at her. ‘I am sorry,’ she replied, ‘I am so sorry. What must you think of me?’ She buried her head into his chest as he put his arms around her and held her tightly to him. ‘I think something has hurt you greatly…’ he paused, ‘…and you didn’t like the statues on the terrace very much.’ She stifled a muffled laugh, her head still buried in his chest. ‘I didn’t, they were hideous. Do you still want me, even when I can behave so very badly?’ she said dolefully, looking up at him still with tears in her eyes. He laughed and lifted her chin up to kiss her. ‘I will just make sure I never do anything to anger you. Come, Amrothos wants to explain what caused this.’ She held him back. ‘This won’t be over with the end of Sennebar, Éomer. There is another source of evil at play here,’ she told him cryptically. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘I am sorry,’ Lothíriel said to those gathered in the large hall adjacent to the dining room which had been set up for the lunch. She looked tense. ‘I am still too angry; I don’t think I can tell of this. She turned to her brother, ‘Amrothos, this is your story to tell, if you wouldn’t mind. Éowyn, I am sorry. I didn’t know.’ At that, she turned abruptly to her brother. Amrothos examined the expectant faces of those present and took up the challenge. ‘My brother Elphir came to me late one night with two young children while we were in Minas Tirith about a year and a half ago…’ he paused deliberating on how best to tell the tale. ‘Oh, by the Valar, this is difficult to explain.’ He began to pace up and down the room as he talked. ‘He asked me if I would take the children to Lothíriel in Dol Amroth and claim them as my own. My two children I had sired with two different women because… well, because I am the only unmarried male of my family and they had to belong to someone. It seems I have a reputation with the ladies I was not myself aware of, and so I refused. I am not as kind as my sister. She would take in any waif and stray unquestioned. For a brief moment I thought they must be his own bastard children. Elphir was furious at such a slur and, for all his faults, it seems he is loyal to his wife. I then thought that perhaps Erchirion had at last dared to go against his wife and found someone who loved him, or at least he was able to love, and who would blame him… and I still refused until I knew the truth about them. Elphir told me they were neither his nor my brother’s and then ordered me to take them to Lothíriel and tell her they were mine. I realised then that the situation was very serious. There was only ever one man Elphir would do this for, one man he loved even more than his brothers, and that was our cousin…’ Éowyn and Éomer both looked at him in horror. ‘Our cousin, Boromir,’ he clarified quickly. ‘There had been considerable pressure put on Boromir to marry Lady Hannedriel’s daughter, Annedriel but he had already fallen in love with another. These are his two children by Ethellas, the woman he could not marry but whom he loved. He had hoped that once the war was over, he would be able to marry her, but he had to keep her and his children hidden. He had desperately wanted to tell Faramir but if he told Faramir and their father found out, Boromir knew that his father would only punish Faramir for not telling him. Elphir was his best friend after his brother, and he took the risk to tell him just before he left Minas Tirith to join the Fellowship. He begged Elphir to look after Ethellas and his children in his absence. It seems he had growing suspicions they might be in danger. Sadly, he was proven right.’ Amrothos paused to reflect on the loss of his beloved cousin and the woman he had loved. Lothíriel went over to her brother to give him an encouraging hug. He collected himself enough to continue. ‘Elphir had by chance gone to see them soon after Boromir’s departure to reassure her of his protection. Now Elphir may not as strong as our father, but he is still a superb fighter, with incredible reflexes. They were attacked by what I now believe were Astari. They were not expecting Elphir to be at the house. Elphir had no doubt at all that they were there to kill not just Ethellas, but also the children. I am afraid she died protecting them but it was her unexpectedly ferocious defence of her children and her sacrifice that gave Elphir the opportunity to defeat them. Of the two Astari, neither escaped Elphir. As I said, he is a superb fighter and having seen what the Astari can do, I have even greater respect for him. As soon as he told me the truth about them, I took them to Lothíriel in Dol Amroth at first light. When I came to her with the children and told her they were mine, that both their mothers had abandoned them to me, and I no longer felt Minas Tirith was safe for them, she accepted them with no hesitation at all and gave them both love and protection.’ He gave his sister a look of great appreciation, one that was reciprocated. ‘We… Lothi and I… we discussed my future this morning… and she asked me what my intentions were regarding my children. It became quite heated, for various reasons, and I was forced to tell her the truth about them. I understand why Lothíriel is so upset. Just to be clear, Lothi was not angry with me or Elphir for having lied to her, she was furious that Boromir had been put in this position and that we have all been hiding so much from each other as a family because of our fear of Denethor.’ Lothíriel was pacing up and down the room. ‘I have never been prouder of Elphir in fact. It was brilliant of him. But how did you know about the children when I didn’t even know this myself?’ she addressed herself to Gallend. ‘Does Faramir know yet?’ Gallend nodded. ‘Much as I hated Denethor, even he would not have ordered the murder of his only grandchildren, their mother perhaps, but not the children. Amrothos said Elphir was adamant the children would have been killed had he not been there. Was it Hannedriel? It just doesn’t strike me as her style using the Astari, but I could just be underestimating her cruelty.’ Gallend took over the story, ‘Let me answer all those questions but firstly could you please tell us where they are? Of course, when we found out about them, we went straight to Faramir. He had known nothing about them and immediately sent for Elphir, who fortunately was in Minas Tirith. He told us he had sent them to you in Dol Amroth but he himself did not know where you had hidden them.’ ‘Ha!’ Lothíriel cried, ‘Right now, they are with Elphir’s own children. Lady Adriel kindly adopted them as distant orphaned relatives from Minas Tirith and made them her wards. They have been living with her, but they are now at the palace while she is here.’ Maglor and Gallend looked at each other in relief. ‘Are they safe?’ Adriel asked most concerned, ‘Surely with both Denethor and Boromir gone there can be no advantage to killing them?’ ‘The Astari do not work that way, my Lady,’ Hadán explained. ‘The children were under contract and whoever issued it has not rescinded it, so it is still open.’ Lothíriel paled. ‘How do you know it has not been rescinded?’ she asked. Gallend continued the tale. ‘This all goes back to my father. He has proved most helpful, not that he meant to. He has been the weakest link in the Astari’s network. My father was never well-liked in Elbrond and there were many who have been willing accomplices in my own network, one of whom worked in a trusted position within his household. My father in his arrogance believes he is the only person in Elbrond who speaks Sindarin and wasn’t so careful. As you know, my contact was present when my father was negotiating with this man a contract to foment trouble in Dunland if Éomer did not crush them into full submission and also to have Éomer killed if he failed to deal aggressively with Dunland. This was just before your annihilation of the Dunlendings’ southern forces. I took the man captive before he could leave for the South and sent an urgent message to Maglor, which reached him as you were tending the wounded the day after the battle. Understanding the importance of this man Maglor sent me word back to immediately take the prisoner to Aragorn in Minas Tirith and wait for him there while he escorted Lothíriel to Handlend Vale. What none of us knew except Maglor and Aragorn is that Legolas and Gimli were already guarding Handlend Vale, in close contact with Legolas’s kin from Greenwood and the Elves of Lothlórien who were watching events stirring in the East.’ ‘Please accept our apologies, Éomer, for not informing you of our actions.’ Maglor interrupted quickly. ‘Until we understood the extent of the Astari network in Rohan, we did not feel we could tell anyone. It would have put Hadán and his family in too much danger. We could not take the risk.’ ‘But why didn’t Legolas and Gimli just let me know they were there? It would have been much more fun to have had their company?’ Lothíriel interjected somewhat put out, before Éomer could answer. ‘We were trying to see if an Astari would show himself,’ Maglor explained, ‘which he would most certainly not have done had you been openly accompanied by an Elf and a Dwarf of their fighting abilities. They watched over you and Delwine until you returned to Éomer here in Aldburg the first time. From what I hear, they had a had quite a time together with Legolas trying to teach Gimli how to track someone discreetly. It seems he managed to make some progress, eventually.’ Éomer smiled to himself at that image; even Maglor made a lop-sided grin. Gallend continued. ‘While there was much I was able to glean from the man regarding their activities in Rohan, I did not truly comprehend the nature of the Astari until I was able to meet with Tuor last week. I left the prisoner with Maglor in Minas Tirith to return to keep watch over what my father was planning. It was one of Tuor’s men who masqueraded as the Astari assassin sent to my father and it was through him that I was able to uncover the exact details of the intended attack on the Dunlending village. It was Tuor’s man who took my father’s payment for that and agreed the contract terms for Éomer’s assassination, which he was supposed to complete if Éomer survived the Easterling attack. There could be no further doubt of his guilt and level of betrayal.’ Éowyn’s blue eyes flashed vengefully. ‘A sharp blade to the neck is too kind a punishment for such a man,’ she cried out with barely controlled anger. ‘We still have much to discuss but let us eat first. I think it is time we all learn as much as we can from those here about the threat we face, if, Gallend, you don’t mind telling us all you have uncovered from Tuor and Hadán?’ Lothíriel suggested to her guests. |