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Stirrings of Shadow  by Fiondil

66: Pearls of Grief

When the acclamations died down, Thengel looked up, his eyes red-rimmed though his tears had abated and he appeared calmer. He stared out upon those in the Hall and took a deep centering breath. "Now begins the hardest part of all," he said, his voice ringing through the Hall. "Now we must gather our dead and wounded and begin the task of rebuilding, rebuilding lives as well as homes. Underharrow lies in ruins and much of Edoras is also damaged. Much must be done. Hildebrand, you will organize the people into work details. The first order of business is clearing the city of the dead ere pestilence finds us and succoring the wounded as well as gathering up prisoners."

"What of the traitors," Hildebrand asked, "and those in the city who sided with them?"

"Those, whether wounded or dead, who can be identified as citizens of Edoras are to be treated with respect, for many of them were forced to fight against us out of fear for their loved ones being held hostage to their obedience and many of these in the end turned against their masters and aided us. As for those who can be identified as having followed Guthláf and the other leaders of the rebellion into Edoras...." he sighed, shaking his head. "Let those who are dead be separated from our own. The wounded are not to be mistreated but keep them separate as well."

Hildebrand nodded and began to issue orders. Thengel motioned for Aragorn and Denethor to approach him. He gave them a steady look. "In all of this you have not mentioned my mother," he said in a low voice, his tone harsh with grief and anger at the waste of it all. "Where is she?"

The two scions of Númenor exchanged looks of dismay before Aragorn addressed the king. "I will show you," he said, his demeanor one of resignation.

Thengel nodded and followed Aragorn and Denethor into the private part of the Hall. He was surprised when they came to his own bedroom and Aragorn opened the way into the licweg. "What does this mean?" he demanded.

Aragorn shook his head even as he held a torch for Denethor to light. "It is best if we show you, lord," he said grimly.

"Then show me," Thengel said, mentally steeling himself for what he might find.

They made their way through the licweg, keeping silent, until they reached the cavern. Thengel paused for a moment in confusion as he spied the crude looking altar covered with black ashes. Aragorn and Denethor continued walking until they stood before it, their expressions blank.

Thengel felt a frisson of fear course through him and he suppressed a shiver as he joined the other two. He felt his stomach twist sickeningly as he stared down at the ashes clearly delineating a bodily form. "My mother," he said dully.

"Yes," Aragorn replied tersely and then went on to tell of the evil that all could sense emanating from this area, pointing up to the Scamelas above them. Then, he explained how he, Denethor, Gilhael and Wídfara had found the barrow-wight and destroyed it. He took great pains to highlight Wídfara’s role in all of it, ending with the encounter with the Umbari necromancer and what came of it.

"That is why they were herding us into the Scamelas," Thengel finally said after a long moment of silence as certain pieces fell into place.

"Yes," Denethor said. "They themselves were given some immunity from the terror the wight was generating, so they did not realize that there was no longer any terror to be felt."

Thengel stared down at what remained of the Dowager Queen, his expression hardening. "And in the end you were betrayed even as you betrayed, Mother. May the Valar have mercy on you for had you lived you would have found none in me." He glanced at the two men standing there with looks of dismay on their faces. "This will remain our secret," he said. "She was old and in ill health. Death was not unexpected."

"How will you explain the fact that there is no body?" Aragorn asked.

"I will not," Thengel replied firmly. "I will have the ashes gathered up and sent to Aldburg in secret. Her death will be announced at a later time. There will be no funeral dirges sung for her. I will not accord her that privilege."

"I will look for a suitable coffer," Aragorn said with a brief bow. "It is best that none handle the ashes but myself. The evil has been banished but...."

Thengel nodded then clapped Aragorn on the shoulder, giving both men a wan smile. "For what you have done, words cannot express the depth of my gratitude. This war was not your concern, yet you made it so."

"Rohan is an ally of Gondor," Denethor said, "but more importantly, thou’rt a friend of Father. Gondor is proud to come to Rohan’s aid in her hour of need."

Thengel held out a hand to the son of Ecthelion which the young man took. "Then let us renew the Oath of Friendship between us when the time is meet."

"And while there is no Oath between Rohan and the Dúnedain of the North, as was given between Eorl and Cirion," Aragorn said solemnly, and unknown to the other two men, speaking as the Chieftain of the Dúnedain as well as the rightful king of Gondor and Arnor, "still we of the North recognize Rohan as an ally as well. When I took oath with thee, Thengel King, I made this war my concern, as did my cousin. Even if I had been but a stranger passing through, still I would have fought by thy side, for to do otherwise would have been to betray my own honor."

"For your words," Thengel said, giving both men a brief bow, "I thank ye." He cast a final glance at the ashes that were all that remained of an old and bitter woman whom he had once called ‘Mother’ and sighed. "Let us leave this dismal place. Later, I will have this altar torn down and the cavern rehallowed, but for now, we should bar any doors leading into the licweg."

The other two nodded and Denethor offered to go down to the cemetery door while Thengel and Aragorn started back up the tunnel towards Meduseld. "I have a coffer that you can use," Thengel said to him. "It is in the bedroom or should be unless it has been taken."

"It does not appear as if anything in Meduseld was looted, lord," Aragorn said, "but in truth, I did not stop long enough to take an inventory."

Thengel chuckled at the attempted levity. They stopped when they reached the landing, waiting for Denethor to catch up. Thengel looked down the tunnel that he now knew led to the stables. "We should bar this door as well," he said, pointing into the darkness, "even though I suspect that only Offa knows of this way."

Aragorn nodded. "I will see to it," and he strode down the tunnel and shortly came upon a door and bolted it, then returned to where Thengel still stood but now Denethor was with him. They made their way into the king’s bedroom and Thengel went to a clothespress and began rummaging in it.

"Ah, here it is," he said in satisfaction as he pulled out a coffer. He stood and showed it to them. Aragorn saw that it was made of mountain ash, cunningly carved in low relief with figures of horsemen on its sides. The lid was inlaid with enameled pieces in a colorful design of a running horse. "My father had this made for my mother to put her jewels in," Thengel explained. "For some reason, when she went to Aldburg, this was left behind. I always meant to send it to her, but...." He shrugged and handed it to Aragorn. "I believe this will be appropriate enough."

Aragorn took the coffer and opened it. The inside was laid with green silk but otherwise was empty. He looked up into Thengel’s eyes. "I will see to it, lord, and until you are ready to send her remains to Aldburg, the coffer will remain in the licweg."

Thengel nodded. "I had best see to other matters. When you are done, if you will, go among the wounded and succor them. I must find out if Léofwine survived," he said, naming his court healer.

Aragorn nodded. "He may well have escaped into the tunnels. Gléomund should know. As soon as I finish here I will go in search of my cousin and see how he and Wídfara fared, then I will do what I can for the wounded."

"And I will help with organizing patrols to keep peace in the city," Denethor offered. "Emotions are running high and some might seek vengeance or take advantage of the general chaos and attempt to loot the dead or even the living."

"Yes," Thengel said grimly. "There is always that after any battle. Go then, and find either Hildebrand or Folcwine and tell them I sent you for this very purpose." Then he strode out of the room. Denethor gave Aragorn a quick smile. "Do you need help?"

The Dúnadan shook his head. "This is a gruesome task best left to me. Go and do as you have said. I will meet up with you later. Look for me among the healers."

Denethor nodded and left. Aragorn stared at the coffer in his hands for a moment before letting out a sigh. Then he grabbed a torch and made his way back down the licweg to gather the ashes of a dead queen.

****

Gilhael looked up from ministering to one of the wounded to see Aragorn standing at the entrance to the healer’s tent, scanning the area. His eyes lighted on his cousin and the lines of worry and fatigue smoothed away into a heartfelt smile as he crossed the distance between them. Gilhael rose and the two embraced.

"I wondered if I would ever see you again," Gilhael said in softly spoken Sindarin.

"I saw little in the way of battle," Aragorn replied in kind. "Thengel has sent me to help."

Gilhael nodded. "As you can see, there is much need of your other skills."

"Wídfara?" Aragorn asked, looking about but not seeing his friend.

"Rest easy," Gilhael said. "He is well. He is in another tent. This one is for those who have been identified as having joined the rebellion. The few leeches who are about are more concerned with tending to Thengel’s loyal troops. As you can see, I am about the only one here to see to these men."

Aragorn nodded. "Then I will stay and help you. Rebels and traitors they may be, but they deserve healing and not all these I deem are true traitors, but were forced into joining the rebellion because of oaths given to their lords, oaths which their lords betrayed. I think Thengel will show mercy on these men."

"Good," Gilhael said as the two began to attend to the wounded. "Many of these poor souls, as you can see, are young, some of them barely out of boyhood. It would grieve me to see them banished from their homes or hanging from a gibbet."

Aragorn knelt beside one such youngster, perhaps not much older than sixteen or seventeen, his face contorted with pain and fear. "Do not fear," Aragorn said in Rohirric, smiling, "I am a healer and will help you."

"Wh-why?" the lad asked perplexed. "Th-they will k-kill me anyway."

"Who told you this?" Aragorn asked as he began cleaning the sword cut along the lad’s left leg. It had luckily missed the artery, else he would already be dead. As it was, Aragorn did not think the lad would ever be able to walk unaided; for the hamstring had been cut.

The young lad shook his head, his eyes full of pain and dread. "Th-they said we would all be... be killed," and now he was weeping, lost in despair.

Aragorn stopped what he was doing and gathered the lad into his arms, gently rocking him. "Hush now," he whispered. "All will be well. What is your name and where are you from?"

"H-hámamund s-son of Hámafast." the boy answered, wiping the tears from his face. "I come from Alorharadsdale. M-my father is Lord Léodward’s geréfa."

"Well, Hámamund son of Hámafast," Aragorn said. "I promise you, no harm will come to you. Thengel King is wise and will know who fought against him willingly and who did not."

"Father said we had to fulfill our oaths to Lord Léodward," Hámamund said forlornly. "I... I didn’t want to come but Father said...." He started weeping again and Aragorn held him more closely, humming a lullaby that his mother used to sing to him. Eventually, Hámamund succumbed to a restless sleep while Aragorn continued to treat his wounds.

"I fear his story is not unique," Gilhael said, speaking in Sindarin, having overheard the exchange between the young lad and his cousin as he worked on another man nearby.

"No, I doubt that it is," Aragorn said. "These people pride themselves on keeping their oaths to lord and land and it must be terrible to know that one’s oaths are betrayed by the very lords to whom one has sworn service."

Gilhael nodded. "They are caught between fulfilling their oaths to their lords and thus betraying their king or refusing to fulfill their oaths to their lords and perhaps sufferring death for it. Either way they are condemned as oathbreakers. It is a terrible dilemma."

"Indeed."

The two healers looked up from their ministrations to see Thengel standing there, his expression grim. They started to rise but Thengel waved them back down, walking over to where Aragorn was still treating Hámamund. He looked down at the lad, moaning in pain but not fully awake, his face slick with sweat and grime.

"So young," he muttered, speaking Sindarin as well, shaking his head.

"His name is Hámamund son of Hámafast Geréfa of Alorharadsdale," Aragorn said. "He did not want to come here but was given no choice."

Thengel nodded. "So I am hearing from others. Léoward and Isenbert and the other lords of Eastfold who rebelled against me have much to answer for."

"How is Lord Léodward?" Aragorn asked. "That head injury should not be allowed to fester."

"Léofwine is looking after him," Thengel said. "You were correct that he managed to escape into the tunnels. Léodward appears dazed and almost childlike, unsure where he is or why. Léofwine thinks that the blow on his head brought about a brain storm and now he is as you saw him, biddable as a child and with less wit than a five-year-old."

"He may recover yet," Aragorn said. "I have seen it happen before."

"Perhaps," Thengel said as he knelt beside Hámamund and gently stroked the lad’s hair, which seemed to calm him somewhat. "At any rate, he has been housed in the royal nursery under guard. He seems content there and I didn’t have the heart to have him thrown into prison. It just didn’t seem right."

"When will you begin the trials?" Gilhael asked in curiosity as he moved to another patient and began cleaning the man’s wound.

Thengel sighed. "Too much else must be done before we begin the trials. Too much grief must be assuaged first. I will not reside over any trials until I am able to do so without hatred in my heart."

"Thou’rt wise, Thengel King," Gilhael said gravely, stopping his ministrations to regard the king solemnly. "Gather thou thy pearls of grief and string them together, and as thou dost, release thine anger and sorrow. When all thy pearls are strung, tie them together and put them away for safekeeping, for such pearls are not for wearing lest they burden thy heart unnecessarily. When thou thinkest thyself ready, take them out and examine each pearl, acknowledging them and honoring them, then put them away again and go on with thy life."

"Pearls of grief," Thengel muttered.

"Something someone said to me after orcs destroyed my family," Gilhael said softly. "It took me a long time to string them, but eventually I did."

Thengel looked at the older Ranger and saw something there that he had not noticed before, a calm acceptance of what was. He nodded in understanding. "Your words are wise, Lord Gilhael. I will remember them. May I ask who spoke these words to you?"

"Lord Elrond of Imladris," Gilhael said.

Thengel’s eyes widened with the revelation and then he rose with a sigh. "I think I should go and begin gathering those pearls," he said sadly. "There are quite a few of them and it will take me time to string them all." Without another word he strode out of the tent, leaving the two Dúnedain alone with the wounded once more.

****

Geréfa: Reeve. Pronounced yuh-REE-vah. The reeve was generally appointed by the king or a lord to maintain the peace in a particular area, such as the lord’s demesne, a port or a shire. The word scirgerefa ‘shire-reeve’ eventually became our word sheriff.

Note: The title is taken from Ranier Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies: The Tenth Elegy:

     ‘She is Lament....

     She waits for girls and befriends them. Shows them gently,

     what she is wearing. Pearls of grief and the fine-spun veils of patience. —

     With young men she walks in silence.’





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