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Chapter Twenty-One – A Dual Objective

She did not like his answer, but Galadriel understood why Celeborn could not say otherwise. 

Hrassa had gone too far.  He had blatantly denied his worst transgression and would not ask forgiveness.  The members of their household were not going to welcome him back as kindly as had his prince and the master smith.  His misdeeds impugned their honor, and whereas most of their nost would in varied degrees shun him, certain others might try to punish him.  But however they would individually react in regards to Hrassa’s return, not any would quietly stand by and see him reinstalled as one of them.

At the moment though, a possible revolt worried her less than the indicative undertone in her beloved’s voice.  It told her that, in his own eyes, he felt he had himself gone too far and shown an offender more consideration than he should have.  Whether he and his bowman had once been close or still were would be given no more account.  As the head of Nos Galadhad, he was obliged – and he would probably say even more so than any minion – to uphold the integrity of their household and clan.  He was not going to exacerbate being overly merciful to one individual by imposing an indignity upon many more.

But, as the female head of their House, whether wife to its lord or not, it was she who carried the major portion of the obligation to maintain harmony within.  In her role, it was also her obligation to care for those who suffered hardship for the sake of orderliness.  Fortunately, with her responsibilities, there came a great privilege.  Within the province of the household, she could directly oppose any ruling Celeborn might make and do so with relative impunity.

A lady held certain advantages a lord did not.  The most manifest being that she was indeed female.  Every elleth held the prerogative to be at times patently illogical and emotional and demanding, especially when children were involved.  Feminine sensibilities were regarded as delicate and required sheltering.  When these inherent attributes were augmented by position, a lady became a force to be reckoned with.  Celeborn had exercised his presumptive powers.  It was her turn now, and she was prepared to exercise her given powers to the fullest.

For there was a genuine threat to their daughter’s life, which Hrassa’s presence might thwart.  As it was, she had never considered the safeguards taken to date adequate.  Now, she would have the protection she wanted for Celebrían – while being politic.  Her refusal to accept his answer would provide her husband with the excuse he needed to act in opposition of the righteous expectations of their followers.  This time she would be the one to take on the blame, and that alone should suffice to get him to yield.  So without compunction, she opened the floodgates to her dammed anxiety over their child’s safety.

“Impossible you may say, my lord, but I care not!  I want him back!”  She leaned heavily against his chest, curling her fingertips slowly down towards her palms in subtle encouragement to accede.  “I want him back and again one of our family.  I want him here to watch over Celebrían, just as he watched over Nimloth and me and you.”

“I wish for the same.  Nevertheless, it is an impossible wish, and you know very well the reasons why.”  He made no move to embrace her, thus giving no outward sign that he welcomed the convenient excuse she was offering.  Undaunted by what seemed token resistance, she pressed.

“Oh indeed, I know!  More than any mother should!”  Having decided to add the weight of her reliable prescience to her appeal, she removed her entreating hands from his chest to stand tall and adamant.  “This must be done, my lord.”

“I realize the importance.”  She was giving him what he needed to give in.  Yet, he was still sounding cool and unbending; being annoyingly uncooperative, when she had thought to settle the matter without much fuss.

“Then, say you will make it so!”  Or will I have to see to it myself?  His expression turned flinty, a clear indication she was taking the wrong tact.  So she relented, and once again put her hands upon his chest and leaned against him in feminine petition.  “Please find your way to taking him back, my lord!  For our child’s sake!  Vanquish the darkening cloud of danger that looms ahead of us all!  Permit not fell shadows to tread the halls of our home!”

“Now, you are just getting carried away.  And ‘tis useless.”  He lifted off her hands and walked away; leaving her standing there, truly puzzled as to why he was not playing along with her melodramatics.  Only to see that he was.  In the worst way he could have chosen.

Going the console table beside the dresser, he poured from the carafe of water that always sat there into the cup that acted as its cap.  He brought the water to her.  But before handing it over, he stopped at the serving table and added one part wine.

“I do not need that,” she stated with mounting anger.  “I am determined, not hysterical.”

“Of course not.”  He took hold of her wrist and pushed the cup into her hand.  “Merely halting your momentum before you overrun your destination.”

“How considerate of you!  Very well.  I shall instead be calm and precise.”  She breathed in and exhaled; effortlessly transforming consternation into a deceptively serene countenance.  “I want Hrassa to live with us again and watch over our daughter.  It would please you to please me.  So, as he is your bowman, you will restore him to his old position and assign him his duty.”

“I will not.”  He clasped his hands behind his back and looked down at the floor.  Sighing, he said, “Forgive me.  I know you mean to make it easy for me to do so.”  His apology foreshadowed a lecture, and she felt the ungracious urge to roll her eyes.  “But, what is easy is not always – ”

“Please, just tell me why you are being so obstinate,” she insisted.  “One would think you afraid to indulge your wife, when it is the right of an aran to pamper his queen.  It does not mean you are weak-willed.”  His head came up at that remark bearing a mulish, almost resentful, frown.  A reaction that was perhaps unpleasant to bear, but spurring him a little would make him get to the point faster.

“Well – my queen – then trust me – your king – when I say it is impossible to accept Hrassa back into Nos Galadhad.  Not under the present circumstances.  And we can do no more than we already have, else suffer the unwanted consequences of disobedience, disloyalty, and defection.  The reputation we have built for ourselves, and particularly for the Galadhrim, would be ruined.  Not only our rule, but our leadership would end.  Who would trust your wisdom, if you are not steadfast but entirely selfish?  Who would trust my counsel or come to me for arbitration, if I cannot be merciful and fair?”  He shook his head slightly.  “No, we cannot compromise justice for our friend’s sake – nor for our child’s – any further than we already have.  Enough damage has been done.”  He heaved a resolute sigh.  “We will simply have to be more vigilant while Hrassa fixes his situation for himself.”

She drew breath to say that his bowman was not now, and might never be, ready to do that!  He should simply command Hrassa to admit his desertion.  Force him to act rightly!  Make him ask forgiveness and serve out a punishment.  And his punishment could very well be as Celebrían’s indentured watcher!

But, he cut her off with a sharp look – anticipating her suggestion and not wanting to hear it.  He was not going to coerce a confession from anyone.

Thoroughly provoked, she took a deliberate sip of the watery wine.  He understood the gesture.  She was indeed being driven to the verge of madness – by his stubbornness!  If you were truly wise, you would just give me what I want!

“You say find a way, and I think I have,” he claimed; himself frustrated at her obstinacy.

This ‘way’... this was the reason for which he had brought her into the alcove in the first place!  Just as she had assumed, he had formed a plan ere he had sent for her to come to the parlor.

“However, my lady, ‘tis not a task for me, but for you, to carry out.  Hrassa will rejoin us.  Save, it will take more time and will entail more risk than you will find comfortable.”  He watched for what her response would be, keeping an eye on the cup of wine in her hand.

For a moment, she actually did consider throwing it at him.  Then put down the cup upon the side table, and once again placed her palms upon his chest.  An allaying smile tightly pinned in place, she gazed deep into his glinting eyes.

He was reasonably confident that his plan would eventually get them what they both wanted, and without disrupting all else they were working towards.  At the very least, Hrassa would be around in case he was needed.  That being so, she was willing to listen.

“Tell me then,” she softly whispered.  The corners of his mouth curled, and he gingerly embraced her.

“Hrassa will stay because our daughter intrigues him.”  His hesitant smile expanded.  “We simply let the two of them get acquainted.  Gradually and under our careful supervision.”  His embrace tightened, and he set his forehead lightly against hers.  “Your part, beyond helping to keep him on his best behaviour, is very important.”

She felt his concern.  He had all along been worried she would decline to do what he would ask of her.  However, the undertaking was vital to success, and so his attempt to coax her into it.

“Galadriel, you must not try to find out the truth about his leaving.”  This was nothing close to what she expected him to say!  Suddenly doubtful, she pushed away to look into his face.  “Let it be bygone.”  Was he joking?  Seeing her reaction, he fell to begging.  “Please, do not ask him for an explanation.”

“However will that help?”  She was completely bewildered.  “How can we mitigate the trouble he will cause, or keep from repeating the same mistake as before, if we do not learn the true reason?”

“Corner him now, and he will go as soon as he can – Celebrían or no.  Give him some leeway, and he will linger, trying to figure out what to do next.”

“Linger?”  She shook her head.  “How so?  Celebrían, as engaging as she is, will not hold his attention for long.  Both will become bored with each other.  He will leave, although perhaps not as soon as possible, but still soon enough.  And we still may not know the truth.”

“No, that is not what will happen,” he strongly contradicted.  “You have not seen them together.  I tell you, a bond is already forming.”

“Celebrían finds him intriguing too?”  Their daughter had admired and liked Adlandos, her wood-elf tutor in Lothloríen, but the child had seen him infrequently, not everyday.

“Need you ask?  We are speaking of Hrassa, after all.”  His emerald eyes filled with a knowing light.  “The longer he is around her, the more he will remember how it was to serve Nimloth.  The longer he is here, the more he will ponder Celebrían’s future.  He will want to be one of her nothrim – and eventually her nost, if no longer ours – and he will seek a means to that end.”

“You think that if I ask too soon, he will not stay long enough to realize this desire?  That he will never consider redeeming himself?  Or that his best chance of that rests in residing here with us, despite being shunned and resented?”

“Yes, just as you say.”  His pleased smile lasted for only a moment before he became grave again.  “And I think that it would also be best never to ask for any explanation at all.  We need to make a pointed gesture to show everyone that we trust him, just as we always have.  Melluain, he must be able to count on never being questioned about his mistake.”

“Maybe.”  This was undeniably a great favor to ask.  She was reluctant to agree.

Even so, this confusing strategy would undoubtedly cause people to hesitate before accosting Hrassa for his actions.  In addition she realized, with him moving among the them again, it could be expected that any who were present when he left would recall events surrounding his disappearance.  Perhaps even remember something they had not thought significant at the time.  She might yet discover the truth and without ever confronting the bowman herself.

“As well, please do not allow anyone to tell you anything in order to unburden their conscience for having kept silent in the past.”

“Unburden their conscience?”  He had someone in particular in mind.  “And who might that person be?”

“Qaurë, who else... ”  Her disappointment matched his.  Another old friend had acted deceitfully.  Even if his silence might one day prove understandable.

“You think he knows something?”  At the time, they had not questioned him in depth.  But then, Celebrimbor was someone she always sensed knew a great deal more than he let on.  So in the absence of evidence, she had had no grounds to suspect him.  “Did you think so then?”

“No, but I am sure of it now, and you must not interrogate him either – “

“Interrogate?!”  I do not interrogate people!  That is what you do!

“As I said, you need to let this go.  Not just for now, but forever.”

Since he was clearly following this idea about not pressing Hrassa and Celebrimbor, she was not as annoyed as she might have been at his asking her to do the same.  However, some additional compensation for her sacrifice was warranted.

“And your part?”

“If or, as you seem to think, when Hrassa becomes weary of our daughter’s company, I shall offer him gainful employment.  Something where he will be able to get out of the city into the wilderness for a while, but be motivated to return with regularity.  Oh, do not give me that look!”  He grinned, unflustered by her skepticism.  “It will work, I assure you.  I can make it into a challenge.  He will enjoy proving his prowess.  And if he completes his commission, I will have already thought of something else to keep him around.”

Hiring Hrassa would be official acknowledgment, not just personal, that he was not a criminal.  His coming back would validate his current claim and somewhat amend the general opinion that he had deserted.  Bringing him a solid step closer to re-entering the Nost and becoming Celebrían’s bodyguard. 

The pity was that, just as her clever husband warned, it was going to take time to shepherd Hrassa back into place.  Besides the risk to Celebrían during that duration, there was considerable risk that the cogndîr would simply pick-up and leave again.  What if the cause, for which he had left them before, was not gone?  Nonetheless, the end rewards and avoiding the problems of not doing it this way were worth it.  She would do as her husband wanted.  But, he did not need to know that right this moment.

“Whatever would this ‘gainful employment’ be?” she archly asked.  From his wagging grin, she reckoned it had to do with her lord’s long-running pet project.

“As a scout, of course,” was his innocuous reply.

”Ah! You mean…”  She glanced about with mock circumspection.  Then speculated with silent lips, “The Secret Pass?”

It was no secret.  The herth openly joked about it.  But, only amongst themselves, because they knew that speaking of it out of turn would bruise diplomacy with King Durin.  The restricted passage through Moria was, every captain agreed, inadequate for moving troops.  Nonetheless, suggesting a road over Caradhras as a solution was folly, and particularly laughable coming from their usually wise prince.

“Yes, The Secret Pass,” he confirmed in like humour and not voicing his answer either.  What could be better?

He will see through your flimsy ploy, she teased.  

What ploy? he asked with an air of ingenuousness.  All others I have sent to find a route over the mountains have failed.  Hrassa will enjoy beating them out and earning acclaim for it.

As you yourself said, impossible.  But, his blind faith in Hrassa’s skills and his pleasure at the mere thought of getting more than one objective met in a single, supposedly impossible, task was rather endearing.

As I also said, maybe ‘sent’ at that.  Certainly, he is the one that I would send to do the impossible.  So, why not Manadh as well?

They looked at each other – and simultaneously burst into laughter.  If Celeborn could convince Hrassa that finding a passage over Redhorn was fated for him to do, he would carry on in defiance of reason and probability.  The bowman was going to be around for a very, very long time.

One of their guards came to stand outside the alcove’s entrance, his figure casting a rippled silhouette through the curtains.  Galadriel was facing in that direction, and upon seeing him, flicked her eyes to inform her beloved that someone sought to encroach upon their near privacy.

“What is it, Ithinduil?” Celeborn asked in an audible voice.  He did not bother turning to address his bodyguard.  He was enjoying his beloved’s merry face too much to look away.

“My lord, someone has come for the cogndîr’s gear.”

TBC

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Author’s Notes:

All elvish is in Sindarin unless otherwise indicated and underlined means I put it together myself – corrections and comments are welcome!

cogndîr – bowman Nandorin

manadh – fate, fortune, doom

nos – a family or household

nost – the household itself within the nos

nostel – a member of a household or clan

nothrim – members of a household or a clan

herth – the household troops

aran – king (also translates as ‘Lord’ for it means the ruler of a realm, not just royalty)

melluain – most dear, my dearest  mel (love) –wain (-est, most) used as a noun, not an adjective, the ending ‘n’ kinda sounds possessive

ellon/elleth – elf male/female

ellyn/ellith – elves male/female