38: Scouting the Enemy

For most of the next week after the ‘consultation’, as Wídfara called it, nothing more was said or done about the situation.

"At least they didn’t make you drink some nasty potion," Wídfara said to Aragorn at one point.

Aragorn flashed him a wry smile. "Not yet."

Wídfara actually winced and nodded, looking a little glum. His leg was taking longer than he thought to heal fully and he feared he would not be able to partake in the upcoming attempt to retake Edoras which Thengel was planning. Aragorn divined the younger man’s thoughts.

"You’re healing on schedule, Wídfara," he said, clapping the Rider on a shoulder. "I think the splints will be off in another week or so. There will be plenty of time for you to regain your strength before Thengel makes his move. You know nothing will be done until the snows in the passes are cleared, signaling the end of winter’s hold on these lands."

"I know," Wídfara said with a sigh. "I just feel useless. You’re going on that scouting trip and I’m stuck here." He looked at Aragorn with a troubled expression. "What if you have another... er... episode? Who will bring you out of it?"

"That’s why Elladan is going with us," Aragorn said. "He will know what to do if something like that happens, but I don’t think it will. Now that I know what is triggering the attacks, I’m able to guard against them."

"Well, I still wish I were going. I’m sure Lord Elladan is competent and all, but I’m the only one who knows how you like your meat cut." He gave Aragorn a sly look and for a moment the Dúnadan just stared at him before bursting out laughing, grabbing him in a bear hug.

"Hey! Watch the leg, watch the leg!" Wídfara protested as Aragorn continued holding him tightly, rubbing his fist across the top of the younger man’s head, which elicited a yelp from the Rider, though he was laughing as well.

****

Besides Aragorn and Elladan, Gilhael, Hildered and Ragnawulf were also going on the scouting trip to ascertain what state Edoras might be in. The prospect of a siege did not sit well with Thengel and the city’s defensive position would make it difficult for a frontal assault to be successful.

"Which is why my ancestors built Edoras where it is," Thengel said wryly when he gathered the men together to discuss the upcoming retaking of the city. "They knew what they were about."

Thus, the purpose of the expedition was to ascertain whether the two known ways into the city, either through the culvert below the dungeons or the licweg were still accessible from the outside.

"We may well have to take the city by secret ways," Hildebrand said at one point during the discussion. Thengel scowled but otherwise did not contradict his First Marshal, knowing the man’s words were true.

Déorhunta and the other members of the ill-fated hunting expedition wanted to go as well, but Thengel had decided on a different mission for them, one that he spoke to Thandir about. The Elf came away from that meeting with a strange expression on his face, and not even the sons of Elrond dared to speak to him for some time afterwards. Thandir was later seen speaking to Celegrýn and Gilgirion; neither one of them appeared very happy about whatever Thandir told them.

Thus, two groups left Dunharrow a week after Yule. Aragorn’s group headed up the dale, skirting Underharrow and Upbourn, while Celegrýn and Gilgirion led Déorhunta, Isenhelm, Elfbeorht, Heremund and Éothain back east in search of answers about the missing hunters.

"Why do you not go with them?" Wídfara asked Thandir as the two stood on the parapet and watched the parties head towards the Stairs.

"Elrohir and I need to discuss certain things relating to the healing arts," Thandir answered readily enough. "We want to see if there is something we can do for Estel when he returns from the scouting trip."

Wídfara nodded. "I hope there’s a solution," he said sincerely. "Earntungol deserves better." It was as close to a reprimand as the young Man was willing to utter to the Firstborn.

Thandir looked down at Wídfara, noticing the look of longing and devotion in the young Mortal’s eyes as he watched his sweordbroðor move out of sight. "Yes, he does," the Elf said softly, then gave the Rider a warm smile. "Let me help you off the wall, young Wídfara. I will have Elrohir take a look at your leg and see how it’s healing."

Wídfara nodded and allowed the elven scout to help him down the steps to the courtyard below.

****

The trip to Edoras was done mostly in silence. Just shy of the city they met up with the scouts who were keeping watch and got what news they had, which was little enough.

"There has been no movement in or out of Edoras since a week before Yule," Halga said. "Someone left Upbourn and made their way to Edoras just before that and the postern gate opened for him, so someone is alive in there, but that’s about all we know."

"Did you recognize the person from Upbourn?" Ragnawulf asked, for he came from that town.

Halga shrugged. "All swathed in cloak and hood he was," he replied, "but he did carry a sword. That much at least we could make out."

Hildered thanked the scouts and bade them to return to Dunharrow. "Others will take your place. Go you and take your ease. Report all you have told us to Thengel King."

The scouts gave them relieved smiles as they quickly broke their camp and in a few minutes were on their way back up Harrowdale. Hildered decided that the scout’s campsite was as good a place as any, for it was hidden from the city, yet they could see the ramparts well enough. So, they went about setting up camp. Elladan stated he would scout further up the Snowbourn to the Royal Road and would return ere dark.

"Then I will assay the hidden passage that many of your people took to escape the city and ascertain if that way is still open to us."

"How will you see in the dark?" Hildered asked.

"There will be a moon tonight, though the clouds will obscure his light," Elladan answered. "Still, it will be enough for me to see by." With that he left, barely leaving a trace as he walked silently upon the snow.

"How does he do that?" Ragnawulf asked, shaking his head in amazement. Gilhael and Aragorn merely shrugged, not willing to try to explain the ways of the Firstborn.

An hour before sunset, Elladan returned. "There has been no traffic coming from the Westmark," he told them as he accepted a bowl of rabbit stew from Aragorn. "There has been some traffic from the east."

"How recently?" Hildered asked, furrowing his brow.

Elladan shrugged. "Hard to say. Since the last snowfall else even I would not have found traces."

"Any clue as to what kind of traffic?" Aragorn asked. "Horses? Wagons?"

"Horses for sure," the Elf answered. "Possibly at least one wagon, but of that I cannot be certain."

"Where could they have come from do you suppose?" Gilhael asked. "I thought Aldburg was safely in Erkenbard’s hands?"

"It is," Hildered said flatly. "But forget not the steadings of the Eastfold. Isenbert and Léodward have many friends there."

The other Men grimaced at that reminder. Elladan ignored them, concentrating on his stew and mentally readying himself for the night’s scouting. He went over the route Aragorn had described to him earlier, making sure he knew how to find the grate even in the dark. When he finished eating he wandered from the camp for a while to seek solitude among the leaf-barren trees, singing softly a hymn to Elbereth. The Rohirrim watched him go with no little wonder in their eyes. Aragorn and Gilhael exchanged knowing looks and smiles but said nothing.

Darkness had descended when the Elf returned, silently appearing before the fire that was carefully screened so that it could not be seen from the city. The two Rohirrim jumped at the sudden sight of the Elf standing there, the firelight reflecting darkly in his grey eyes. Gilhael smiled at Hildered and Ragnawulf but Aragorn merely looked up at his brother with a raised eyebrow.

"Did you forget something, muindor nîn?" he asked Elladan in softly spoken Sindarin.

Elladan merely stared at him, his expression totally unreadable. Then he turned to Hildered. "I leave now. If all goes well I should return before daybreak."

"And if all does not go well?" Hildered asked.

Elladan gave the young Man a faint smile. "I doubt I will be in a position to care either way." Then he looked directly at Aragorn. "If it goes ill with me," he said, speaking Sindarin, "tell Elrohir he is not to follow me to Mandos. Adar will need him more than ever if I fall."

"You will not fall, Elladan," Aragorn retorted, also speaking Sindarin, "because if you do, I’ll make sure you never hear the end of it."

Gilhael actually snorted in amusement and Elladan’s eyebrows disappeared into his hair. Without another word he turned and faded into the night, as silent as a ghost, perhaps more so.

"Do you think he’ll be successful?" Ragnawulf asked doubtfully.

Aragorn shrugged. "Successful or not, we need to know if that way is still open to us. The only other avenue is the licweg."

"And even if the culvert is accessible," Gilhael added drily, "we’ll still need to check this licweg. We can’t have the rats scurrying out one hole even as we scurry into the other."

Aragorn grunted in agreement but otherwise did not speak. For a time there was only silence between the men as they each contemplated the coming days, for Thengel needed as much information as he could get concerning the state of the city. They needed to find a way in so they could learn how the inhabitants fared. The presence of the plague amongst the refugees was a cause of worry and many feared that they would be taking a city of the dead.

"It’s possible those in charge of Edoras allowed the ones who were carrying the plague to leave in the hopes that Thengel King and his men would succumb to it," Gilhael opined at one point.

"I thought of that," Aragorn stated rather clinically. "There’s a certain amount of logic to such evil. I wondered just how the plague was started, for it came rather quickly. Usually, from what I’ve been told, plagues of that sort only occur after an extended siege period. The time frame was, to my mind, too short."

"What are you saying?" Hildered asked, his face going pale with shock. "Someone deliberately brought the plague into the city and then....?"

"I do not know, Hildered," Aragorn said softly, not looking at anyone in particular. "The suddenness of the disease and its virulence.... and then there was something that happened when Wídfara nearly died."

"What? What happened?" Hildered demanded.

Aragorn shook his head. "I really don’t know," he answered, looking directly at the young Rider. "More is going on than I think we realize. Something is happening that may have nothing to do with Thengel regaining Edoras, but I do not know what. Those men disappearing the way they did...." he sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes in sudden weariness.

"Celegrýn and Gilgirion will find the answer to that riddle," Gilhael said confidently.

"How can you be so sure?" Ragnawulf demanded a bit more forcibly than he had intended.

Gilhael merely shrugged. "Those two have not survived the War of Wrath and the Dagorlad without learning a thing or two along the way."

There was silence after that for several minutes and then Hildered gave Aragorn and Gilhael a shy look. "Um... what was the War of Wrath?"

Both Dúnedain exchanged considering looks and then Aragorn gave Gilhael a barely perceptible nod. Gilhael leaned back on a fallen log and stretched his legs a bit to ease some cramping. "Well, now," he drawled, "let me tell you about that. It all started when the greatest of the Elf-smiths of Valinor, Fëanor son of Finwë, captured the Light of the Two Trees in three jewels he called Silmarils...."

Aragorn sat back and watched with faint amusement as he noticed the rapt attention the two Rohirrim gave his cousin as Gilhael spun his tale of the First Age.

****

Elladan returned sooner than they had expected. Aragorn was on watch and it was still several hours before dawn. The Dúnadan had been making a circuit of the camp and when he returned to the fire discovered his brother crouched before it, his hands out to the warmth. Aragorn joined him, giving him a quizzical look.

"What did you discover?" he whispered.

"Someone reinforced the grate before the midden in such a way that no one can squeeze through the bars," Elladan replied just as softly. "That way is closed to us."

Aragorn sighed. "I feared it might be so, one way or another. We will have to try the licweg then."

Elladan nodded. "Get some sleep, Estel. I will watch for what is left of the night."

Aragorn knew his brother well enough not to argue and in minutes he was fast asleep and the camp was silent save for Elladan softly singing.

****

In the morning Elladan told the others what he had learned.

"Fools," Ragnawulf muttered, shaking his head.

"Why do you say that?" Hildered asked, looking perplexed.

"They’ve cut off an avenue of escape for themselves," Ragnawulf replied. "It would have been better for them if they had merely placed a guard on the way into the culvert from the dungeons. Now, even they will not be able to use that way to flee if they so desire."

Aragorn nodded. "Which makes me wonder what we will find when we assay the licweg. I do not think the secret passage remained secret for long once it was known that Lady Morwen and the maidens had escaped. Their captors would have torn the room apart looking for answers. Once that arras behind the bed was taken down the doorway would have been obvious."

"You may be correct, Estel," Elladan said softly where he sat beside the fire idly cleaning one of his knives. "But we will have to make sure before we can return to Dunharrow. Thengel King needs to know what all his options may be."

"He may well have to besiege the city and starve the rebels out," Gilhael said, "though the thought of the innocent dying...."

"The innocent are always dying," Elladan retorted, his expression forbidding in its coldness. "They are often the first casualties of any war, however justified."

To that none of them had an answer, for what the Elf said was true. They spent their time idly keeping watch on the city, waiting for the time when they would move northward to where the grave mounds were situated. They had decided it would be wiser to wait until the sun was westering so anyone looking in their direction would be blinded by the light of the setting sun. Thus it was that they were witness to an interesting sight around midmorning. It was Elladan who alerted the others, having heard the soft jingle of bells approaching.

"Someone comes," he whispered as he leapt down from the tree in which he had been sitting.

Immediately, the others grabbed their weapons and moved silently towards the forest’s edge. In moments they saw a small group of people on horseback coming from the direction of Edoras. There were six riders. Four of them appeared to be guards, for they surrounded the other two riders, their eyes alert and always moving, their hands holding the reins of their horses loosely so they could easily reach for weapons if necessary. Ragnawulf and Hildered both hissed at the sight, for they recognized some of the riders it seemed. The two other riders were swathed in cloaks and hoods so it was difficult to ascertain their features, though one they assumed had to be female, for she rode sidesaddle upon a palfrey and was being led by the other rider who rode a destrier, but beyond that they could not see who they were. The scouts waited until the party had moved away from their hiding place before silently returning to their camp.

"If we had more men, we could have stopped them," Hildered said with a grimace. "I have a feeling the woman in their midst could well be the old queen."

"Think you so?" Elladan asked in curiosity. Hildered shrugged. "I could follow them to see where they go," he then suggested.

Aragorn nodded as did Gilhael, but the two Riders looked dubious. "There are only two places they could be going," Hildered said, "either to Upbourn or Underharrow, so I see no reason to waste our time..."

"You forget Dunharrow," Aragorn interrupted. "If that is indeed Éolind, how do you know she does not go to Dunharrow to parley with Thengel King?"

Hildered gave him a surprised look. "You mean surrender?"

The Dúnadan shrugged. "I cannot say. Certainly, the party does not appear to be a war party. Elladan is correct. We need to know for sure where they are heading."

"Upbourn and Underharrow are close together," Elladan pointed out. "If she bypasses the first town, she may be going to Underharrow, but once she passes its gates, her only destination will be Dunharrow."

Hildered still looked dubious, but he nodded. "Go then, but hurry back, for wherever that party is going we still have our own mission to accomplish. This changes nothing."

"Agreed," Elladan said with a slight smile, then he was gone, disappearing silently through the woods as if he had never been. Hildered sighed and gave the others a wistful smile. "What I wouldn’t give to be able to do that." The others smiled back.

Elladan returned around noon. "The party was met at the gates of Upbourn by a second party coming from the direction of Underharrow," he told them. "Then they all entered Upbourn. Soon after a flag was raised: black with a starburst."

Aragorn grimaced. "The same banner that flew before the gates of Aldburg," he said. "So it is as we feared. The Lady Éolind still lives."

"Even more disturbing is knowing that Upbourn and Underharrow are under rebel control," Ragnawulf said with a frown. "That will make the king’s task of retaking Edoras all the harder. We have not the strength to neutralize the threat of those two towns."

"Would there be many warriors in either?" Gilhael asked.

Both Riders shook their heads. "No more than a single garrison," Hildered stated, "and they share that between them."

"Yet, the rebels apparently had enough of an army to take not only Edoras but these two fortified villages," Elladan stated.

"Only through treachery could that have happened," Ragnawulf retorted. "I doubt if the good citizens of either town would have countenanced it otherwise."

"Well, there is nothing we can do about it at the moment," Hildered said, "except to complete our own mission. Uncle will not be pleased to know that both Upbourn and Underharrow are definitely in the enemy’s camp, but at least he will know where he stands with them and can plan accordingly."

"The sun will be setting in a few hours," Aragorn said. "Why don’t we move closer to Edoras so some of us are not thrashing about in the dark. I need to see the lie of the land in daylight anyway in order to get my bearings."

"You’re sure you know the way to the licweg door?" Hildered asked in concern even as they went about breaking camp.

Aragorn nodded. "Yes, I memorized the way Grimbold took, but it will still be helpful for me to see the way in daylight first before we assay it at night."

In short order they were on their way, keeping the trees between them and the city, skirting along the near frozen Snowbourn as they headed towards the royal road, for they meant to approach from the west rather than from the south. It did not take them long to reach the spot where Aragorn, Grimbold, Wídfara and Hardbeorht had encamped before making their way through the cemetery. While they waited for the sun to set, they ate a cold meal, for they dared not risk a fire this close to Edoras. Aragorn, meanwhile, explained the route he meant to take, drawing a map for them in the hardpacked snow. They were quietly discussing what their options might be should the licweg prove accessible when again Elladan alerted them to riders approaching.

This time they were coming from the south rather than the north. They watched as the same party of riders they had seen that morning returned, now augmented by two other riders. These were not cloaked as deeply as the others and Ragnawulf swore softly as the cavalcade rode by, heading for the gates of Edoras.

"What is it?" Aragorn hissed at the older warrior.

The look on the Man’s face was one of mingled anger and shame. "The one riding the black horse," Ragnawulf whispered, "his name is Folcscyld, he’s the Héafodmann for Underharrow."

Hildered nodded in confirmation, his own expression grim.

"And the other?" Gilhael demanded, seeing the man hesitate. "Who is the other?"

Ragnawulf grimaced, his face pale in the westering light. "His name is Isenwulf," he whispered. "He... he is my fædera." He turned suddenly from the sight of the riders and, throwing up the hood of his cloak, strode away. Hildered, his own expression one of deep pain and anger, made to go after him, but Elladan held him back, shaking his head.

"Give him some time alone, youngling," the eldest son of Elrond whispered. "This is a shock to him."

"A shock to us all," the young Rider hissed in anger. "I’ve never met Isenwulf of Upbourn, but mine Uncle has always spoken highly of him as a man of honor. This news will be hard for him to accept."

Aragorn shook his head and sighed, looking at his brother. "Elladan, would you go after Ragnawulf and bring him back? It will be dark soon and we need to leave."

The Elf nodded and left. Gilhael put a hand on Hildered’s shoulder. "I am sorry that there is so much pain for you and your family to endure, seeing those you trusted betray you."

"It will be well, Hildered," Aragorn then said. "Thengel King will prevail. You must trust in that, if nothing else."

"Sometimes I wonder," Hildered admitted somewhat shamefacedly.

"As does any sane man," Gilhael replied, "even your uncle. There is nothing wrong with such feelings, for they help us to remain focused on reality instead of fantasies. We may well lose this war, and we must prepare ourselves for that possibility all the while believing that we will prevail, for otherwise we have already lost."

Hildered nodded and started to say something but Elladan and Ragnawulf returned just then and other matters took precedence. The older Rider was grim-faced, but calm and he merely gave the others a nod, though he said nothing else. By now the late winter sun was setting and the stars were appearing. The two Rohirrim watched with faint amusement to see the two Dúnedain and the Elf look up at the stars and sigh almost in relief at seeing them, then Ragnawulf glanced towards the city and uttered a curse that brought everyone’s attention back to earth.

Aragorn groaned in despair and the others looked equally dismayed. Where the cemetery lay they could see torches as men moved back and forth, finally settling in one place.

"They’ve found the licweg," Aragorn said in a dejected tone. "Edoras is closed to us."

****

All words are Rohirric/Anglo-Saxon.

Héafodmann: Headman of a village.

Fædera: Uncle, literally, ‘father’s brother’.

Note: The use of a side-saddle has been traced back to the 9^th century, although there is evidence of its earlier use among the Greeks.