Chapter Seven- The Trouble with Brothers

“You let her go where?” Olihre shouted, pacing the room furiously with one hand on his hip and the other rubbing his forehead.

“Settle down boy!  She is returning a horse to the Captain of the Guard-- she’ll be back any minute now.”  Noradol was looking at Olihre with sheer exasperation.  When he had come home from the stonemason’s and heard that Xanthe had gone on an errand, he had become nearly hysterical.  Noradol suspected that he was upset at having missed the opportunity to visit the Great Hall.

“When did she leave?” Olihre demanded.

“Not quite three hours ago, why?” Noradol was fairly annoyed at the immaturity that Olihre was showing.

Olihre did not want to tell his Uncle about his run-in with the King, knowing that it would cause nothing but trouble.  He worried though, that his sister was as well off as a child wandering into a den of Orcs.  “I’m worried about her being alone, Uncle.  She hasn’t much experience at all with the outside world.”

Noradol glanced up the stairs towards Ysenia’s room. “Surely your Mother wouldn’t have allowed her to go if she didn’t think your sister could handle it.  Besides lad, the stables aren’t far from here-- no more than a half hour’s ride anyway.”

Olihre was beginning to panic.  “A half hour?  But she left three hours ago!  What is keeping her?”  Even as he stated the question he knew the answer.  The King of the Mark had surely waylaid her.  Before Noradol had a chance to intervene, Olihre was racing out the front door and heading towards their stable.  He would have gone for one of their mules had this not been an emergency, but due to the nature of the situation, he jumped bareback onto the first horse he saw and raced out of the stables.

Noradol was on the front porch looking after him, with Ysenia joining him quickly.  “I’m going to look for her!” he called to them, not waiting to hear a reply.

*          *          *

Xanthe was riding as quickly as she could without bouncing herself right off the mare.  She knew that she had stayed longer than her Uncle had intended and she was worried that her mother would be upset.  She could see only a few yards ahead of her as she raced through the twilight, keeping her head down to minimize the cold wind in her face.  She had passed a few travelers on the road, all of who had regarded her with minimal curiosity.  She had eventually stopped making eye contact, tired of feeling the need to explain herself.

She rode now, her thighs growing numb as they gripped the horses’ sides tightly.  She was beginning to doze off a bit when she suddenly became aware of another horse galloping towards her, not far off.  Lifting her head in order to steer her horse clear of the other rider, she heard, “Xan, is that you?”

Xanthe squinted her eyes and peered hard to see through the dimly lit air.  Leaning forward upon a great black stallion, hair blown every which way, eyes wide open and brow creased in determination, was Olihre.  He was looking at her with a mixture of relief and anger.  “Oli!  What are you doing here?”

“Xan!  Are you okay?” Olihre begged as he jumped off his mount and ran to her horse.

“I’m fine Oli!  What’s the matter?  What’s wrong?” Xanthe was afraid that something had happened back at her Uncles house.

“You tell me!” Olihre shouted, beginning to feel annoyed that his big rescue was being regarded so apathetically.  “What has taken you so long?”

“Uncle Noradol wanted me to wait until the Captain could come and receive a message from him.  Gaviwyr was tied up with the King and it took them a while to get to the stables.  Why are you so worried?”

“Them?  The King came to see you?” Olihre questioned without much candor. 

“Yes,” Xanthe hesitated, remembering Eomer’s odd behavior, “but Oli the most wonderful thing has happened!  Gaviwyr, the Captain, he told me that the King has need of a new healer!  Can you believe it?”

Olihre threw his head back in frustration, “Of course he does!  How did the King know that you are a healer?”

“Well, actually, he doesn’t.  It was Gaviwyr who I told.  He is going to tell the King tomorrow morning and then send me word shortly.  Why?  What’s wrong?”

Olihre was debating whether he should expose the King as the man from the river.  He hadn’t wanted to do it before because he didn’t want his sister to be afraid.  However now he was thinking that fear may be the only thing that would keep her a safe distance from the King.

“Oli?” Xanthe was watching her brother puzzle over something.  “What is it?”

“Xan, when you were at the river that night…” Olihre hesitated.

“Yes?” Xanthe felt a strange tinge of excitement at the mention of the mysterious man.

“When I confronted the man who was watching you…” Olihre was having a hard time saying what he meant to say.

“Oli, what!”

Olihre let out a dramatic sigh.  “I just worry about you more now, that’s all!”

Xanthe smiled.  “Oli, I’m fine, really-- though I do appreciate your concern.”

Oli smile ruefully. “You shouldn’t have gone off by yourself.  You don’t know this land.”

Xanthe rolled her eyes playfully.  “Honestly Oli!  These are farmers and housewives.  Have you looked around much?  This isn’t exactly Gondor.”  Xanthe noticed Oli giving her a withering look.  “Besides, I’ve had the King’s people surrounding me for most of the past two hours.”

That’s what I am afraid of! Olihre thought to himself.  “Just be careful Xan.” Olihre said, trying to think of some way to tell his hopeful sister that she couldn’t work for the King, without giving away his secret.

Xanthe meanwhile was remounting her horse and preparing to set off again.  “Come on Oli.  Let’s get back before Mum goes mad.”  With that, Xanthe began an easy trot back down the road. 

Olihre jumped on his horse and caught up with her, bringing his stallion along side the mare.  Both horse whinnied nervously and reared their heads.  Olihre held tight to his reigns and brought the horses even closer together.

“Oli, what are you doing?  My mare doesn’t like being so close to that stallion, you know how it works!”

Oli backed off a bit, but still maintained a close stride.  He cleared his throat and said, “Look Xan, I really don’t think you should be a healer for the King.”

Xanthe was shocked.  The thought of working as a healer at all brought joy to her heart, and being in such an honored position as Palace Healer was simply a dream come true.  “What are you talking about?  This is a wonderful opportunity!  Do you know how long I have waited for this day?”

Olihre lowered his a voice a bit and tried to be calm.  “I…I just think that it would be hard for…for Mum.  She would miss you.  She is used to having you around.  She’ll probably need your help with the business.”

Xanthe couldn’t understand what had come over her brother.  He was the one who was always encouraging her to move on and do something with her life.  She thought that he had at least some understanding of her loneliness.  “Oli, you’re going to be there.  You have always wanted to run the business.  Mum has never needed my help with anything before.”

Oli knew he was scrambling a bit.  “But Xan…once we find a residence there will be upkeep and maintenance and all sorts of other things to fill my time.  And Mum will need your help with household duties.”  Olihre felt horrible.  He knew that he was putting too much pressure on his sister.

“But Mum said she wanted me to find work as a healer.  It will bring in extra income, and it will secure our place in the community.”  Xanthe was beginning to pout now.  She knew that she should be strong and accept the advice of her older brother, but she had finally found something that made her feel happy.  “Mum’s been asking me all week when I planned to go out and seek opportunities.”

Olihre really hated to do what he knew was coming next.  “Of course she would tell you that, she doesn’t want to upset you.  But Xan, I heard her talking to Auntie, and she said she was feeling overwhelmed-- you know, not sure how she’s going to manage everything.  Of course she would sooner die than tell you that.  You know Mum…she’ll never admit defeat.

Xanthe felt sick.  “Oli, I didn’t know,” she said softly.  “Of course I’ll help her.  I can always find a position somewhere else, once everything is settled.”

Olihre felt truly horrible now.  He knew his mother wanted more than anything else for Xanthe to become involved in something.  “I’m sorry Xan.  I’m sure once everything starts running smoothly you’ll have time for other things.”

Xanthe nodded in resignation as her horse continued its nervous trot.

*          *          *

Back at the house the mood was tense.  Ysenia had greeted her children at the door, happy to see that Xanthe was safe, but more curious than anything at why Olihre had thrown such a fit earlier.  As soon as Xanthe and Olihre had returned the horses, they made their way back to the house, their expressions rather downcast.  They were now all sitting at the dinner table, picking at their food, not saying anything.

Ysenia broke the silence.  “Xanthe, how was your ride?”

Xanthe didn’t feel like talking.  “Fine.  Nothing happened.  It was fine.”

Ysenia bit her lip and looked around.  Olihre had his head resting on one hand and was slowly chewing a bit of bread.  “Oli, how was yours?”

Olihre looked up hesitantly.  His head hurt from all of the different lies that were swarming around.  “It was fine once I knew that Xan was safe.” 

“Well, that was very sweet of you to look out for your sister.”  Ysenia sighed and looked back down at her plate.

It was Aunt Corla who finally put an end to the awkward conversation.  “Oh come on, all of you!  You look as if you’ve stubbed your toes on a noonday troll!  Your Uncle Nori and I have some good news for you!”

With that Nori stood and began rubbing his hands together with a smile on his face.  “Well, as you can plainly see, your Aunt and I are not as sprightly as we once were.  I’ve been having more trouble than ever getting those giant beasts to obey me, and Corla’s had it up to here with my complaining,” Nori held his arms high up over his head. 

Corla interrupted, “What Nori’s trying to say is, well…we were hoping that maybe you would like to come into a living arrangement with us.”

Ysenia gasped.  “Corla…Nori, we, we couldn’t!  We have already imposed enough as it is…”

“Nonsense,” Noradol broke in.  “I could use Olihre’s help with the horses, and with Corla doing her usual duties, you would have plenty of time for your pottery.”  Noradol searched out Xanthe’s eyes.  “That would leave Xanthe free to look for a healer’s position.  I don’t see how we could have found a better situation!”

Ysenia cocked her head and looked apprehensive.  “Nori, I don’t see how WE could have found a better situation,” she said looking at her children, “but you and Corla have always done fine on your own.  I fear it is you making the sacrifice and we who are benefiting from it.”

Corla let out an exasperated ‘humf’.  “Dear, must you be so stubborn?  Nori really is getting too tired to deal with those horses, and the King has been suggesting that he takes on an apprentice.  Besides, I have been bored out of my wits here.  It has been such a treat having you here with me.”  Corla looked around, challenging anyone to argue with her.  When nobody did, she clapped her hands together and proclaimed, “It’s settled then.  Xanthe, you will start looking for positions tomorrow!”

Xanthe’s eyes lit up.  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  She would be able to take the position after all, that is, if it was offered to her.  She sought out Oli’s eyes, but he had his head down and was not looking jovial.  ‘No matter!’ she thought.  ‘With Auntie Corla here, Mum will have more help than she’ll know what to do with!’

“Well I must say, it sure is nice to see you smiling Xan.” Ysenia was stroking her daughters’ hair.  “Now, if only you could teach Oli how to do it…” She was interrupted by Xanthe’s laughing.

“Mum, let him be!” She chuckled.  “He’s had a long day.”

Olihre looked at his sister.  He was happy to see a smile on her face, and even happier to be relieved if his lie, but he now had to find some other way of stopping her from associating with the King.

“May I be excused?” Olihre stood and retreated for the door.  I’m going to turn in early; I have some errands to run in the morning.”

“Errands?” Noradol said doubtfully. 

“Personal matters.” Olihre stated bluntly.  As he climbed the ladder into the loft, he wondered how he was going to manage confronting the King without getting himself killed.  “It is for Xanthe’s honor,” he said aloud.  “The King will listen or he will die.  There are no other options.”