54: Unexpected Allies

Silence remained the answer from Edoras on the second day of the siege and the expressions on the faces of the besiegers became even more grim. Thengel sent men under cover of darkness later that night to spy out the two known exits to see if there was a way through but the reports were inconclusive. The sewer drain was indeed barred as had been reported by Elladan and there was no hope of removing the obstruction without alerting whoever remained inside the city. When they tried the door to the licweg, for Thengel still had his key, they realized that not only was it locked but also barred. They could break the door down eventually, but it would not be easy and the danger was too great, for those attempting the feat would be too exposed to bowshot from the walls. It was a disheartening picture all around.

Then, on the third morning, something unexpected occurred. As he had done for the last two dawns, Hildebrand rode before the gates to issue the king’s ultimatum. He had barely begun to speak the words when the gates began to open, moving ponderously. Hildebrand sat on his horse in indecision, not sure what to expect. By the rules of warfare the besieged should have simply sent a spokesman to the walls to answer the king’s demands and if they were suing for peace, discuss terms. Even in the camp the besiegers stood around uncertainly, not sure what was happening or why. That proved nearly fatal.

Hildebrand, being closer, realized that he was in deadly peril only seconds before a troop of horsemen rode out of the gates directly towards him. In a flash he was racing for his life, for it was obvious that the horsemen were in no mood to treat him properly as a herald. Arrows flew and Hildebrand was only just able to dodge them, though one hit the back of his saddle, narrowly missing him and his horse.

In Thengel’s camp chaos reigned, for most of the Rohirrim were unarmed and unarmored, not expecting such a sortie at this time. Thengel called for his Marshals and Captains. Aragorn and Gilhael were right beside him in seconds, the only two who were already in battle dress, for they were Dúnedain and never ceased their vigilance as a matter of course. Wídfara was not far behind them, having copied them in remaining battle ready at all times.

Hildebrand managed to reach the camp ahead of the horsemen, calling for his weapons which he had left behind when acting as Thengel’s herald. His sons raced up in time to hand him sword and shield before they sprinted for their own horses.

"Where did they come from?" Wídfara screamed as he ran with Aragorn and Gilhael to the horses. Aragorn, as usual, did not bother with tack and stood guard over Gilhael and Wídfara while they quickly saddled their own horses.

"I suspect from the Eastfold," Gilhael answered but did not elaborate for there was no time with the enemy upon them.

The chaos that ensued was terrible and many of the Rohirrim encamped before the gates were lost, unable to reach their horses or weapons in time. Only the fact that part of Thengel’s army was surrounding the tor and so not in direct conflict saved the king. While the enemy horsemen turned the camp before the gates into a killing zone, others of Thengel’s men rallied together and came at the enemy from behind, their fury at what they saw as treachery knowing no bounds.

Thengel managed to gather the remnant of his men at one point and began winning back his camp. Eventually, the enemy horsemen began to withdraw, for though they had wreaked havoc upon Thengel’s army, they were still outnumbered. At a signal from the wall, they fell back and now there was another race as Thengel’s men chased the horsemen to the gates, hoping to overrun them and take the gates themselves, but a volley of arrows from the parapet slowed them and they were forced to break off the pursuit to save themselves.

There were howls of anger and anguish at the perfidy of the enemy and Thengel’s men were demoralized by the unexpected attack and subsequent slaughter. Thengel ordered the dead taken to the east of the camp, separated into two piles. Dispassionately he and his Marshals went among the enemy dead in an attempt to identify them. Their conclusion was that most seemed to have come from the Eastfold though not Aldburg.

"Why has Erkenbard not come?" Hildebrand asked Thengel as they returned to the camp. "He should have been here before us."

Thengel shook his head. "I do not know," he said, his expression both grim and worried, for he had been counting on the Seneschal of Aldburg to augment his own meager troops.

"Could he have betrayed us?" Hildebrand pressed.

Thengel stopped, his expression now gone cold. "He has not!" he exclaimed with such vehemence that Hildebrand took a step back in surprise and the others with them went still, not wishing to be the object of the king’s ire.

Hildebrand bowed. "Forgive me, Uncle," he said contritely. "I did not mean...."

Thengel merely shook his head and continued towards the camp, the others following him, clearly uneasy, unsure of the king’s temper. The chaos of just an hour ago was gone as the Rohirrim went about salvaging what they could of the king’s camp. It was a dreary scene, nonetheless, and the men went about their tasks with grim determination.

"Why did they not announce their intentions before attacking?" Wídfara asked Aragorn as the two followed Thengel back to the camp.

"I do not know," Aragorn said. "I fear these rebels have no honor."

"We were caught off-guard," Gilhael opined. "They were counting on that, I think. That’s why they did not answer the king’s challenge immediately, hoping we would become complacent."

"I think you have the right of it, Gilhael," Thengel said. "I will not make that mistake again."

Aragorn excused himself then to go and help with the wounded, lending his considerable healing skills to succoring those who were in need. Thengel gave both Gilhael and Wídfara leave to accompany him. "Do not let him overextend himself," the king ordered them. "He is more valuable to me as a warrior than as a healer at this moment. I do not want him unable to fight at need."

Gilhael and Wídfara assured Thengel that they would keep an eye on their friend and then went to offer their aid. The Rohirrim welcomed the Dúnedain’s help, for they had few who were conversant with leechcraft and their knowledge of the healing arts was rough and untutored. "Though they do well enough," Gilhael said softly to his cousin as they watched the few Rohirric healers at their tasks.

Aragorn nodded but otherwise did not speak, concentrating instead on providing the wounded with whatever relief he could offer them. Thus, it was late in the afternoon before he and the others were done, saving those who could be saved and removing the bodies of those who were too grievously wounded to survive. A burial detail had been ordered by the king and two large pits were being dug on either side of the road. Many of the warriors were upset that the enemy dead were even being accorded burial but Thengel was adamant that even the enemy had certain rights.

"They are our kin, led astray by those who have betrayed their oaths to me," Thengel explained. "As such, they deserve our mercy and forgiveness rather than our wrath which we reserve for those who lead this rebellion."

"Do you think they will attack again?" Hilderic asked at one point as supper was being prepared for them.

"If so, we will be prepared," Thengel answered. "They will not find us with our leggings around our knees again."

"We cannot hope to break this siege with so few troops, though," Ragnawulf offered with a scowl. "Would that we had taken the gates and stormed the city when we had the chance. I doubt me that we will be given another opportunity."

"We must hope that a way will be found to end this deadlock," Aragorn answered.

The mood of the camp that night was dismal, the men sitting around their campfires in silence as they mourned their losses. No one sang.

"They gave no warning," Wídfara said morosely at one point as he, Aragorn and Gilhael sat around a fire. "I still don’t understand why they did not announce their intentions," he said, shaking his head, his tone one of disbelief.

"They have no honor," Gilhael replied baldly.

"And they were counting on us not to be prepared for such an attack," Aragorn said.

"Do you think our cause is doomed?" Wídfara asked with some uncertainty, fearing that perhaps they would all be forced into exile if the king failed to take Edoras.

Before either of the Dúnedain could answer, behind the walls of Edoras came the ghostly sound of singing. Wídfara’s expression became stricken and he burst into tears. Aragorn threw an arm around the younger Man’s shoulders and held him, offering him whatever comfort he could. He shared a look with his cousin, both of them grim-faced as they sat and listened to the revelry of the enemy.

****

For two days nothing more happened and everyone was on edge, wondering why those within the walls of Edoras would not respond to their demands to parlay. Thengel ordered the men to be battle ready at all times and many of them now went to their bedrolls only partly unarmored with their swords and bows readily at hand. A spate of rain on the second day after the sortie drove the morale of Thengel’s men into an abyss, for they were now surrounded by a field of mud that would make any fighting, if it came to that, more dangerous and nothing was dry. Thengel worried that he might find his men deserting him.

"It’s happened before," he said to his captains. "Men become so demoralized that they see no point in sticking around to be slaughtered."

"They love you, Thengel King," Aragorn said. "They will not desert you. Too many have lost too much as it is. They want to be avenged for what these rebels have done. Underharrow still burns in most of their hearts and they will neither forgive nor forget what was done there."

"All we can do is wait," Hildebrand said with a scowl. "These rebels have the upper hand at the moment."

"Had we been able to breach the licweg or the drainage system, I think we could have ended this sooner," Thengel opined, "but those ways are closed to us and so we must wait them out and hope that their resources are scantier than ours."

"The planting season is upon us," Ragnawulf said. "If we do not end this soon, there will be precious little for us to harvest before next winter."

"That cannot be helped," Thengel said shortly. "We will survive as best we can."

"So what more can we do to shorten this siege?" Gilhael asked.

For an answer Thengel pulled out one of his maps of Edoras. "Let us see if there are any weak spots we have overlooked that may help us breach the walls of the city."

Thus, they spent some time pouring over the maps in their possession, but even as they did, not a few of them paused during the discussion to glance eastward, wondering why Erkenbard of Aldburg had not arrived.

****

It was the middle of the last watch, only an hour or so before dawn, three days after the attack when the gates of Edoras opened again. Men scrambled into their armor and grabbed their arms still half-awake and befuddled.

"Are they insane?" was the most common response to the sight of the defenders of Edoras charging out upon the field in the pearly grey of the pre-dawn light, their shapes indistinct in the half-darkness.

Caught off-guard as they were, Thengel’s men were nonetheless more ready to defend themselves than the last time. The sentries had alerted the troops as soon as they detected movement coming from Edoras, so the enemy did not have as large an element of surprise as before. Still, it was obvious that the rebels were better prepared to fight than Thengel’s men and it looked as if the slaughter would be complete this time. It did not help that many of Thengel’s troops were unable to come to the king’s assistance, for even as the enemy horsemen bore down on them, archers at the walls and others who came undetected through the sewers and the licweg pinned down those of Thengel’s troops ranged around the tor, keeping them from their horses.

"We need to retreat, my lord," Aragorn shouted to Thengel at one point, even as he skewered one of the enemy who was about to lop off Wídfara’s head. "We cannot hope to defeat them with so few warriors mounted."

Thengel snarled an oath but knew that the Dúnadan was correct. Indeed, he had come to the same conclusion only minutes earlier but had been loath to sound the retreat. Yet, he could not in conscience remain and see his men being slaughtered. He turned to Hildered who was acting as his standard-bearer and herald. "Sound the retreat," he ordered.

Hildered nodded grimly and raised his horn to his lips but just at that moment other horns to the east rang in the dawn. The sound of them startled everyone and even the enemy horsemen paused in surprise. Thengel shaded his eyes against the glare of the morning sun on the horizon, hope unlooked for rising within him. Again the horns sounded and now many there realized that not all the horns were of Rohan.

"Gondor!" Hildered shouted all of a sudden and at that realization, many throats echoed the prince’s cry.

"Gondor! Gondor!" and then as the new arrivals came closer and all could see the standards fluttering in the early morning breeze the cry changed: "Erkenbard! Erkenbard of Aldburg comes!"

Aragorn glanced at Thengel whose expression had turned from one of disbelief to one of joy. "How is it that Gondor comes to our aid, lord?" he asked the king.

Thengel gave him a sly grin. "Fréawine," he answered. "He sent for them."

Aragorn raised an eyebrow at that. "Your cousin," he exclaimed, making the connection. "The one whom you pretended to blind on your father’s orders."

Thengel nodded, a wide smile wreathing his face. "He has ever been my truest friend and most loyal subject. I never doubted he would come through for me."

And then there was no more time for talk for suddenly the new arrivals began to charge upon the field and the enemy knew themselves outnumbered and began to flee back to the city. Thengel ordered pursuit in the hopes of cutting off their escape but the archers on the wall were able to provide their comrades with covering fire and Thengel called off the pursuit when he realized how fruitless it was.

In the meantime, Erkenbard of Aldburg was dismounting, along with two other men, one of them dark of hair and grey of eye, verily a scion of the Sea-kings of old. The three men met Thengel near the center of the camp and their greetings were loud and merry. Aragorn, Gilhael and Wídfara made their way towards them and Thengel made the introductions.

"Lord Thorongil son of Beren," Thengel said, "let me make you known to my beloved cousin, Fréawine son of Léodláf, lord of Brandingsdale."

Aragorn bowed to the man who stood beside Erkenbard. He was typical of the Rohirrim with light golden-brown hair braided down his back, his face wreathed with long mustaches and a beard. He was not as tall as Thengel but he held himself as a warrior and his blue eyes were clear and absent of any guile. Aragorn greeted him respectfully, liking what he saw. Then Thengel turned to the other man, the Gondorian, who appeared to be no older than Aragorn himself, and who stared at Aragorn and Gilhael with something that was more than just mild interest. It made the younger Dúnadan feel nervous for some reason, though he did not let his feelings show.

"And this is my Lord Ecthelion’s son, Denethor, heir to the Stewardship of Gondor," Thengel said.

And so, for the first time, Aragorn son of Arathorn, Sixteenth Chieftain of the Northern Dúnedain and crownless king of Gondor, met one whose fate would be forever twined with his.

****

Note: Denethor son of Ecthelion was born in TA 2930, one year earlier than Aragorn.