141: After the Council

After the acclamations had died down, Ingwë called everyone to order, thanking Eärendil for his suggestion and Sador for accepting the nomination. "I trust that the details of how the Assembly will be structured can best be decided amongst yourselves and Lord Sador at your leisure. It seems to me, unless anyone else has something further to discuss, that the purpose of this Council has been achieved and that we should bring it to a close. Are there any objections to this?" There were none and Ingwë continued, "Then, I declare this Council to be done, and well done. Having said that, I would like to suggest that a similar Council convene at Mid-summer."

"For what purpose?" Morcocáno asked.

"For the purpose of having the different realms keep in touch," Ingwë replied. "I think it behooves us to continue meeting on a regular basis and discuss anything that is of mutual interest to us all. I do not anticipate such a Council lasting as long as this one, but I think even an informal gathering of representatives of our various realms would be beneficial to us all."

There were murmurs of agreement among many, though not all, of the delegates. Some seemed to hold reservations as to the efficacy of having such a Council so soon, and Morcocáno even suggested that they not meet at Mid-summer but at the next Mid-winter; however, most preferred to meet during the warm season.

"That way the Valar aren’t likely to drop a blizzard in our laps if we don’t behave," Finrod said with a sly smile and many of the elves laughed.

Manwë raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Don’t be too sure about that, young Findaráto," he said and now all the Valar were seen to snicker.

Eventually, everyone agreed that a Council of some form should be held at Mid-summer during the tournament and that it could simply comprise the three High Kings representing their respective realms, Lord Sador representing the Tol Eressëans and Lord Manwë for the Valar. "And perhaps Lord Eärendil will also join us at that time to represent the interests of those who reside in Aewellond," Glorfindel piped up, and there was general agreement to this. Eärendil only said that he would think about it, but if he himself did not come, he would most likely appoint someone in his place and that was deemed acceptable.

"And now, I do not know about anyone else," Ingwë said at the last, casting a warm smile upon them all, "but I could do with some lunch. Let us therefore adjourn. My Lord Manwë, on behalf of us all, I wish to thank you and the other Valar for hosting this Council and providing us with the wherewithal to meet. In spite of some upsets along the way, I think on the whole this has been a very successful and rewarding time for us all." He then rose and bowed to the Elder King. Immediately, Olwë and Arafinwë and all the other Council members rose and offered their own obeisance to the Valar.

"And we thank you, all of you, for having the courage to come together in peace and goodwill for everyone’s benefit," Manwë replied. "May Eru Ilúvatar continue to bless all your endeavors. And now, I believe Lord Námo and Lady Vairë have arranged for luncheon to be served, so we will leave you to enjoy it. In the meantime, I will arrange for a feast to be held tomorrow in honor of this Council and especially in honor of Lord Sador as the newly chosen Cáno of the Tol Eressëan Assembly. Until then, my children, enjoy the day."

With that, the Valar all faded from view. Then Ingwë spoke. "Well, I guess that’s that. Why don’t we go have lunch?"

There was much laughter among them as they left the amphitheater and made their way to where the pavilions were set up for lunch. Ingwë insisted that Sador walk with him and the other two kings, speaking to him quietly, assuring him of his support and offering advice, while everyone else followed.

****

After lunch, the elves broke up into various groups, some of them wandering back into Eldamas for last minute shopping, while others foregathered in one tavern or another to continue discussing the Council and its outcome. Finrod took the elflings, along with Vorondil and Vondo, for a ride into the countryside. Glorfindel went with them. Ingwion was seen speaking with Olwen and the two wandered away from everyone else, though Salmar and Faniel followed them at a discreet distance as chaperones.

Sador managed to slip away from everyone by pretending he needed to use the privy once they returned to the townhouse, but in actuality he went to his room and sat in the embrasure overlooking the central courtyard where a fountain sang merrily. Thankfully, the courtyard was empty of people. He sat there with his stomach tight with emotions. He had been unable to eat much for all of Alassiel’s coaxing and had said very little, speaking only when directly spoken to. It was all too sudden and completely unexpected. He gathered from listening to the conversations around him that just about everyone knew what had been planned except him. He felt somewhat betrayed by this. Why hadn’t his gwedyr come to him and warned him of what they were planning? He could have told them he wasn’t interested.

Perhaps that was it. They knew he would object and refuse to let them name him for the position. It was really absurd. He was much too young, barely out of elflinghood. And what did it matter if he’d died? In Mandos there was no time or at least not as the living understood it. If he had lived he would be over six hundred years old and that was still too young by anyone’s standards. Did dying really make that much of a difference? Did the centuries wandering the Halls of Waiting truly prepare him for this? What had he done all that time? He could scarcely remember and in truth he rarely thought about it. If he concentrated hard enough images would form, images of himself happily playing with others elves, be they Sindar, Noldor or even Vanyar, though he had a sense that the Vanyar came later.

But now, thinking about it, he wondered if that was all that had happened to him while he was in Mandos. He scrunched his eyebrows together, concentrating hard, trying to put some coherence to his memories of that timeless state and then a door seemed to open within him and he saw himself in the company of Lord Námo and one other and they were speaking to him, instructing him, though he could not hear their words. He struggled to bring the images into focus, he struggled to hear their words, and then, suddenly he could and he found himself no longer in his townhouse bedroom but back in Mandos, standing before Lord Námo and Lady Nienna....

****

"Soon, child, you will be released from my care," Lord Námo said with a gentle smile. "Soon you will be returned to Life."

Sador frowned, not quite understanding. "What is Life?" he asked in all innocence.

He noticed the two Valar exchanging looks which were unreadable to him. He was not sure what they were talking about and tried not to fidget. Anyway, he would much rather be playing with his friends. This conversation was rather boring and pointless as far as he could tell. As if they had divined his thoughts, the two Valar turned their attention to him and smiled. Lady Nienna was the one who spoke.

"Life is Life, child, and until you re-experience it, you will not be able to understand, but trust us when we say that it is your destiny to live."

"Aren’t I living now?" Sador asked, clearly not understanding and frankly not really caring. Why couldn’t they just let him go and play with everyone else?

"You are merely existing," Lord Námo replied. "In the meantime, my sister would speak to you about things you must know before you leave Mandos."

"Speak to me about what?" Sador asked, just intrigued enough to temporarily forget wanting to go play with his friends.

Lady Nienna gestured and he stepped towards her so she could put an arm around his shoulders. "I am here to teach you wisdom," she said.

"What’s wisdom?" Sador asked as he allowed himself to be led away. "Is it a new game?" He thought he heard Lord Námo give a snort of amusement from behind him but when he turned to look, the Lord of Mandos was no longer there.

Lady Nienna chuckled. "Some people think so," she answered. "Come, let us talk...."

****

Sador sighed as the memory slipped away and he found himself back in his bedroom. He could not easily recall what Lady Nienna had talked to him about. How was he supposed to know if he was wise or not if he couldn’t even remember her lessons, for he had a sense that that had been but the first of many meetings between them, right up to the moment he was released from Mandos and he awoke within one of the Gardens of the Reborn, learning how to have a hröa all over again. He grimaced. He shouldn’t have caved in so readily to everyone’s demand, especially the Valar’s. After all, was this not one more instance of their damned interference and manipulation? He shivered, and it had nothing to do with the sudden cold breeze that swept down into the courtyard, ruffling his hair. The thought that he’d been released from Mandos when he was specifically to fulfill some sort of destiny designed by the Valar made his skin crawl. He closed his eyes, leaning against the stone and sighed. The breeze died and even the sound of the fountain seemed to fade. It was only then that he realized that he was no longer alone in his room, but he had not heard anyone enter.

Opening his eyes he gasped in surprise and dismay as the last person he expected to see stood in the middle of the room, gazing upon him with a mixture of love and concern.

"L-lord Oromë," he stuttered, trying to untangle his legs so he could rise and give the Vala his obeisance, but Oromë came to him and gently pushed him back down and then sat on the opposite side of the embrasure. Silence reigned between them and then Oromë spoke.

"You are angry," he said.

That simple statement seemed to open a floodgate of emotions that Sador could neither control nor name. He glared at the Vala. "Angry?" he hissed, leaping up. "ANGRY?" he nearly screamed. "I am beyond angry, you... you... Vala, you!" he snarled. He was riding on a crest of ever rising fury and a deep sense of betrayal and he cared not a whit whom he insulted. "Is that all I am to you is some pawn in a political game? Glorfi is bait and I’m your dupe? And Finrod. What is he, your favorite pet?"

"Child...."

"Don’t ‘child’ me, Oromë!" Sador screamed, backing away from the Vala. "I am not a child!"

"Then stop acting like one!" came the angry retort and it was like a splash of cold water in his face. Sador stood there gaping at the Lord of Forests, his mouth moving but no sound came out of it. Then, to his utter horror, he burst into tears and found himself squatting on his heels, wrapping his arms around his legs and rocking himself for comfort, though there was none to be had. Oromë never moved but allowed him the space to vent his emotions. How long it lasted, Sador did not know, but after a time the tears abated and the rocking ceased and a sense of futility, an emptiness of purpose, rolled through him like a gentle yet inexorable wave. He might even have fallen asleep for a time, for he slowly came to himself, blinking as if from a dream and looked up to see Lord Oromë still sitting there gazing upon him dispassionately.

"Feeling better?" Oromë asked quietly. Sador gave a half shrug of his shoulders, not really sure what he was feeling. Oromë nodded. "Go wash your face," he commanded, jerking his head towards a corner of the room where a wash basin and a pitcher of water stood on a small table.

Sador untangled himself from his crouch and dutifully went over to splash some water on his face. When he was done, he turned around to face the Vala but did not move. Oromë lifted an eyebrow in amusement and gestured with his left hand. "Come back here and sit down, Sador. I have no intention of holding a conversation with you standing on the other side of the room."

Sador sighed but did as he was bid, sitting back down on the embrasure facing the Vala.

"That’s better," Oromë said with a slight smile, but Sador did not return it, merely glaring at Oromë.

"I’m not going to apologize," he muttered defiantly.

"I’m not asking you to," Oromë replied equably. "I am asking you to listen."

"Do I have a choice?" Sador snarled.

For a moment, Oromë just stared at him and Sador had to look away, feeling slightly ashamed of his attitude but at the same time not really caring. He had every right to be angry.

"Sador, I know you feel betrayed, betrayed by me and by the other Valar and even by your gwedyr. Believe me when I tell you that that was never our intent. And believe me when I tell you that we did not inspire Eärendil to choose you. He came to that choice on his own."

"But you said you wanted me to be Cáno," Sador protested. "So you had to be manipulating things so someone would suggest me for the position."

"Actually, we weren’t," Oromë replied. "If the Council had continued to be at an impasse for one more day, we would have brought your name before its members ourselves, though we were reluctant to do so for obvious reasons. Fortunately, we did not have to do so. The most we did was to point out to the Council that they might wish to look further afield, that they might wish to look to the younger generations of elves rather than to the older ones for their Cáno."

Sador nodded reluctantly. "Lord Námo said something like that."

"Yes," Oromë averred. "That was as close as we dared come to manipulating the Council towards our own wishes." He gave the ellon a sardonic look and Sador grimaced. "The truth is, Sador, we had Eärendil and Elwing brought here for this very purpose. They are both outsiders, in more ways than one, and their Mortal heritage allows them to see things in a different light. It was our hope that they would see a way through the morass of conflicting interests which besets the Tol Eressëans. They were unlikely to be bogged down by preconceptions which plague many of the older elves. Both Eärendil and Elwing were very young, even by Mortal standards, when they began ruling the refugees at the Havens, were they not?"

Sador nodded again. "I remember people talking about it," he said. "As long as Lord Tuor and Lady Idril were there, everyone, whether from Doriath or Gondolin, even the very few who managed to escape from Nargothrond, was happy enough to let them rule, but once they were gone, there was some doubt as to whether Eärendil should now be our lord. I think there was even some talk of asking Lord Celeborn to come and take over."

"What about Gil-galad?" Oromë asked. "He was and is, after all, High King."

Sador shrugged. "I am not sure. Idril, as Turgon’s daughter, was considered to have precedence even over Gil-galad, at least among those at Sirion. And Eärendil was Idril’s son and therefore Turgon’s heir. Many thought that the High Kingship should rightly fall to him rather than to Gil-galad for all that he was not strictly of elven kind. I think people gave lip-service to Gil-galad being High King but they looked to Eärendil as their proper lord. Indeed, as best as I recall, I don’t think Gil-galad ever set foot at the Havens, but remained with Círdan on Balar. I think Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel came once when Lady Idril and Lord Tuor were still with us, though I never saw them myself."

"At any rate," Oromë said, "in spite of their being counted among the Firstborn, they still feel like outsiders among you, and that allows them to see things more clearly than it is sometimes possible when one is in the midst of a problem with seemingly no solution."

"But why did he have to choose me?" Sador asked plaintively.

"For all the reasons that were given, child," Oromë said kindly. "For all that and more. No one expects you to remain as Cáno forever. I know you do not want that for yourself, but the Tol Eressëans need someone now. A time will come when one of the kings will rule there, as is proper, but until then, think of yourself as being merely a Steward."

"But anyone could be that!" Sador protested.

Oromë nodded. "Perhaps, but the point is, you are the only one on whom everyone can agree. You know how the Council has been struggling to find a solution as to who would lead them once they decided on a format for ruling among themselves. This Council would have dragged on for another week if Eärendil had not offered you as a candidate and then it would have simply broken up with nothing accomplished and everyone mad at everyone else and blaming everyone else for the impasse."

"So what next?" Sador sighed. "What happens now?"

"I think a ceremony will be devised in which you are invested with the powers of Cáno before the entire populace and then you have the unenviable task of keeping all those people happy." Oromë gave him a wicked grin and in spite of himself, Sador found himself grinning back.

"A ceremony?" he asked. "When?"

"Oh, I think it will be appropriate for it to be held at the New Year, don’t you think?" Oromë replied. "That will give you time to come to terms with your new position. There will need to be decisions made about where the Assembly will meet and you will need to find a place to live. Nothing will be done immediately."

He paused and leaned over to put his hand on Sador’s knee, giving it a friendly pat. "You are not alone, child. You have a lot of people who are behind you and will help you, including me."

"You, lord?" Sador asked in surprise.

The Vala nodded, giving him a gentle smile. "Yes, Sador, including me. You are my apprentice, after all."

Sador could only stare at the Lord of Forests, blinking in disbelief, his mouth a perfect ‘O’ as several things finally began to fall into place. He was still sitting there in shock as the Vala stood and bent down to give him a kiss on his brow before fading from his view.