21: Heading South

At Tarwalameon, they found controlled chaos as villagers scurried about, apparently planning to abandon their homes, for many of them were busy packing carts with their belongings while others were attempting to lead farm animals away. The village itself was larger than Nordomas, Valandur saw, perhaps as many as fifty houses, stone-built and solid, centered around a green and bordered by elms, hence its name.

“Where do they think they’re going?” Findis asked Valandur as they rode toward the village green.

“They appear to be heading further south, perhaps to the next village,” Valandur answered.

“Well, they need to stay here and help fight the fire,” Findis retorted with a frustrated huff. “Do you recognize anyone who might be considered the headman of the village?”

“There,” Valandur pointed to where a knot of people were gathered together by the smithy, apparently arguing. As Findis and Valandur approached, the people stopped what they were doing and stared at them.

“Who oversees this village?” Findis demanded as she brought her horse to a halt before the smithy, her expression imperious.

“And who be wantin’ to know, mistress?” one of the villagers asked.

“I am Findis, the Noldóran’s daughter,” she answered somewhat haughtily. “I am overseeing the firefighting between Nordomas and Ando Tarassëo.”

The villagers started in surprise but otherwise did not acknowledge her in any way with bows or curtsies. The one who had spoken before sniffed in disdain. “Fight this? How? Word’s come that half the Fiefdoms be destroyed and the fire be out of control. There be no fightin’ this.”

“Are you the village headman?” Findis asked.

“Aye,” the ellon replied. “I be Calmamir.”

“Where are you planning to run then, Headman Calmamir?” Findis demanded.

“Ando Tarassëo sits on a lake,” the ellon answered. “We mean to go there where the water will protect us.”

“But only if the fire does not consume the fields surrounding the lake, sweeping around to attack the village on the west side,” Valandur replied in a reasonable tone before Findis could reply. “There is no safety there, my friend. Your best bet is to help us fight it here. The people of Nordomas, joined by those come from Tirion, are even now back burning the fields north of your village. We left the last group only a mile from here. You need to organize your people to do the same. We need teams of four or five spread out between here and Ando Tarrassëo. Only by fighting fire with fire will we defeat this particular enemy.”

The villagers gave them dubious looks and there was some muttering among them. As Valandur had been speaking, others had stopped what they were doing and joined their fellows, surrounding the small group from Tirion. Valandur could see Captain Ornendil and the other guards eyeing the crowd with concern.

“Who be you to tell us what to do?” Calmamir demanded.

“We are here by order of the Noldóran,” Valandur replied, giving the ellon a cold look. “Who I am is of no importance at the moment. What is, is that you are holding us up, as we need to continue to Ando Tarassëo and determine the conditions there. In the meantime, you need to get your people organized to help out. You need to have people go north as well as south. Captain Ornendil, if you would have a couple of your men remain here to see that these good people comply with his Majesty’s orders, the rest of us will continue on.”

“As you command, Loremaster,” the Captain said, giving him a salute before turning to look at his men. “Vorondur, Macatyelepë, you’re in charge here.”

“Captain!” the two guards said almost at the same time, giving Ornendil salutes.

“Your Highness, shall we continue on?” Valandur asked Findis with studied politeness.

“Yes, thank you,” Findis replied shortly, giving the villagers a brief nod before speaking softly to her horse. The villagers parted to let them pass.

“Right then,” Valandur heard Macatyelepë say as they headed south. “Headman Calmamir, is it? Good. Let’s have everyone gather in family groups. Children who have not seen at least ten harvests will remain here, while those who have seen at least that many can carry water and food, while anyone who has seen at least fifteen harvests….”

“They were simply going to abandon their homes,” Findis said as they rode out of earshot of the village. “They were going to Ando Tarassëo where they would be safe.” She gave a very unladylike snort of disbelief. “Nordomas is no less threatened than this place but no one was running away there.”

“No one in Nordomas was aware that the fire had spread so far,” Valandur pointed out with a smile. “These villagers can actually see the fire and they were rightly concerned for their safety, but running to Ando Tarassëo is not the answer. My concern is that when we come to the next village we will find the people there feeling rather complacent, believing that their lake will protect them, and it will, up to a point.”

Findis nodded, giving him a frustrated look. “You know, I am quite able to speak for myself. You did not need to speak back there as you did.”

“Findis, you are an admirable elleth, but these people are very conservative and Calmamir was not about to take orders from you.”

“How do you know?” Findis shot back. “You did not give me a chance to issue any.”

“I know simply by their postures,” Valandur replied.

Findis raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that? They were all standing.”

Valandur smiled. “Yes, but it was how they were standing that matters and that told me that however exalted your titles may be they were not about to listen to you.”

“But they listened to you,” Findis said, giving him a dubious look.

“Yes, they listened to me because I am an ellon.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s very simple,” Valandur said. “Even as you were speaking to Calmamir, he was not looking at you, but at me, another ellon, and when he answered your questions, he did not look at you, but at me. He spoke to me, not to you.”

“And so?”

“And so, he was looking to me for confirmation of all that you were saying, for you are only an elleth, after all, and anything you may say is automatically suspect unless confirmed by an ellon. None of those villagers, not even the ellith, were paying much attention to you, for, in their eyes, you had no authority.”

“I am the daughter of the Noldóran, their overlord!” Findis protested.

“An overlord none of them have ever seen, only his agents who appear at certain times to take possession of their produce which they must tithe to the Crown. They know nothing of kings and care even less for their daughters. You must make allowances for their more conservative outlook on life and act accordingly and I think the further south we go the more conservative we will find these people.”

“And that will make it more difficult to get them to cooperate,” Findis said with a sigh.

“Not if you follow my lead,” Valandur said. “You forget, I made a study of this very thing, the way a society forms and informs the language of the people and all that goes with it, including body language. Just by the way those people were not looking at you told me much about their mindset, which is why I intervened in the discussion as I did, for you would have been wasting time trying to speak with them.”

Findis gave him a sour look. “And do you enjoy this?”

Valandur’s eyes widened at the venom in her voice. “No, Findis, I do not. I much prefer to stay in the background and let others issue orders, but, other than you, I’m the only one with any title or rank which these people will admit to. Captain Ornendil is an admirable ellon and well capable of doing his duty, but he has neither the rank nor the authority to act independently. His authority is vested through you or me and the villagers will recognize that. Do you not agree, Captain?”

The Noldo nodded. “I do, Loremaster. I will gladly help organize the villagers but I cannot order them about. That authority was not granted to me. My primary duty and those of my men is to protect Her Highness.”

“So you see, meldanya, it is either you or me and as I have pointed out, if those of Tarwalalmeon are indicative of the typical peasant, it had better be me issuing orders or we’ll get nowhere with any of them.”

For a long moment Findis did not respond, chewing her lips and contemplating what had been said. Valandur remained silent, content to let her take all the time necessary, mentally reviewing what arguments he would need to put forth if the people of Ando Tarassëo proved recalcitrant.

“Yet those of Nordomas obeyed me,” she finally said.

Valandur nodded. “I suspect it is because some of them are more likely to travel to Tirion for the markets than would be true for villagers to the south. The people of Nordomas, or at least some of them, would be more exposed to the realities of life in Tirion and Finwë’s rule, so they recognized your status as his representative, even if you are an elleth.” He flashed her a smile, unable to resist the last bit. She gave him a sour look, harrumphing, but otherwise did not comment.

Laurelin was coming into full bloom by the time they came to the vicinity of Ando Tarassëo. Valandur saw that the lake was not as large as he thought it would be, which explained why only one village sat by its shores. As it was, he could see several houses circling the lake, though most were clustered to the south where a stream flowed out and ran southward. Here, the sky was black with smoke to the east and the acrid smell of burning forced them to keep their mouths covered. Valandur saw that the leading edge of the fire could not be any more than a mile or so away and heading directly toward them. Villagers were congregated around a square and as he and Findis and their guards passed through an arch created by two hawthorn trees, they all turned to them, giving them wary looks. Valandur was surprised to see that most were actually Teleri rather than being Noldor or Vanyar.

“Who is in charge here?” Valandur demanded before Findis could speak. He refused to look at her.

There was a stir among the villagers and an elleth stepped forward.

“I be,” she announced. “And who be you and why be you here?”

“Your name, mistress?” Valandur asked politely.

“Eärendilmë,” she answered readily enough. “I be the village massánië.”

“And I am Loremaster Valandur from the court of the High King,” stretching the truth somewhat, “and this is Princess Findis, daughter of Finwë Noldóran. We are here to see how you are battling the fire that threatens the Southern Fiefdoms.”

The elleth gave a snort. “We be doin’ nothin’ at the moment. Besides, our lake will protect us.”

“Think you?” Findis interjected with a slight sneer. “The fire may well be stopped by the lake but it can still spread west and come at you from that side where your lake will offer you no protection. We have the people of Nordomas and Tarwalameon back burning to try to halt the main fire from reaching this road. You need to do the same if you wish to protect your village.”

“Back burn?” Eärendilmë demanded. “Deliberately set fire to the fields? What nonsense be this?”

“No nonsense, mistress,” Valandur retorted. “It is your only hope of saving your village. You have nowhere to go. The road ends here. Lord Oromë’s Forests lie to the south and they appear to be in danger as well. Captain Ornendil and his men will help organize you. You need to get into groups of four or five and spread yourselves along the road and around the lake. That fire is nearly upon us and we will be hard-pressed to keep it from getting any closer.”

Before Eärendilmë or anyone else among the villagers could respond, one of the ellith cried out, “Where be Ninquelótë? Has anyone seen my daughter?”

Eärendilmë and others turned to the elleth in consternation. “Be she not by the well with the other elflings, Helinyetillë?” the massánië demanded.

“No,” the elleth answered tearfully. “It be the first place I looked, and the other elflings did not know where she was.”

“Surely someone must have seen her,” someone said.

“Mistress Helinyetillë, what did you ask the elflings?” Valandur asked.

She gave him a puzzled look. “Why, I asked if they had seen my daughter.”

“And, of course, they said no,” Valandur said with a nod, dismounting. “Perhaps I should talk with them.”

“You? And why you?” Eärendilmë demanded. “Why waste time with elflings? We need to begin a search for Ninquelótë.”

“Let us see what the elflings have to say first, shall we?” Valandur said as he moved past the crowd of villagers to where he could see the village well and several youngsters huddled about it looking frightened. Findis and Captain Ornendil followed. Valandur removed the scarf from his mouth and smiled at them as he knelt before them. “Hello. My name is Valandur. I understand that one of your playmates is missing. Can you tell us where she went? Did she say anything to you?”

“She was crying about her dolly,” one of the younger ellith said. “She wanted her dolly.”

Valandur turned at the sound of the gasp from Helyinyetillë. “She’s gone back to the house for her favorite doll. Oh, Valar! She’s gone back home!” She started to turn away, but Findis stayed her.

“Which house?” the princess demanded.

“It be on the other side of the lake,” Helinyetillë answered, “the one with the blue shutters. I have to go, I have to find my little girl.”

“Where is your husband, mistress?” Valandur asked, standing.

She looked at him, her eyes wet with tears. “He was visiting friends to the east when the fires began. He’s not returned. Please, I must go.”

“We’ll go,” Findis said firmly, looking at Valandur. “We have horses. We can get there faster and she may not have gotten home yet if she just left.”

Valandur nodded, then crouched down by the elflings, giving them a warm smile. “Did you see in which direction your playmate went?” But the children all shook their heads.

“She most likely took the bridge,” one of the villagers said. “It will bring her closer to your home, Helin.”

“Then we will go that way and hopefully catch up with her,” Findis said.

“Will Ninqui be all right?” the little one who had told them about the doll asked, giving Valandur a fearful look.

“Yes, child. We are going now to find her and see her to safety. Thank you for your help.” He leaned over and gave her a brief kiss on her forehead in benediction and then stood, looking at Ornendil. “Captain, while we are searching for the child can you organize everyone to start back burning? We have little time.”

“Yes, Loremaster. Go. I will see to everything.”

Valandur nodded and turned to Findis. “Highness,” was all he said and at her nod they went back to the horses and mounted. Eärendilmë gave them instructions. “The bridge be in that direction,” pointing more south than east. “Take the first side street on your right and it will take you directly there.”

“Thank you,” Findis said and then they were off. It was as the elleth had said and in a few minutes they were crossing the bridge spanning the stream, which was wider and deeper than Valandur had thought it would be. The bridge was perhaps a quarter of a mile south of the lake so they turned north immediately and urged their horses to speed.

“Mistress Helinyetillë said the house with the blue shutters,” Valandur said once they set the horses to a gallop. “Let us hope it’s the only one with shutters of that color or we may be wasting time looking for the child in the wrong house.”

“I am sure if there were more than one house with blue shutters, we would’ve been told,” Findis retorted.

“Think you?” Valandur shot back, giving her a sardonic look. “Then you obviously did not see the four houses we passed on the way to the bridge with blue shutters.”

Findis gave him a disbelieving look, then turned her attention east to where the fire was raging. It would not be long before it reached them. She gave him a worried look and by mutual consent they urged their horses to greater speed, each hoping that little Ninquelótë was not that far ahead of them.

****

Meldanya: My beloved/dear/sweet.

Massánië: ‘Bread-giver’, according to Tolkien, used as a title of the highest woman among an Elvish people, as she had the keeping and gift of the coimas (lembas).