The Embalmer's Apprentice by Lyra

Roitaheru understands that Azruhâr needs to be protected from something, but he doesn't know what exactly. He's more worried about his lack of self-esteem than about powerful enemies. So yes, it is good that Herucalmo has that in mind, although he's being clumsy about it. He even tried to explain the situation this time! Azruhâr might appreciate it a little if he weren't already so worn down.

The "alliance" between the Tash-naga and Mordor will be a major topic in the next chapter, when the matter will be brought before the council (and some of the surviving Tash-naga will be heard). So there will be more on that! Thanks to Azruhâr's distraction, I don't have to repeat myself (too much) and bore my gentle readers. ;)

The information was simply dropped by Herucalmo at some point. In-universe, he (or, more likely, his father's agents) followed the gaps in the records and questioned the mine manager and thus found out; but that happened backstage. So we'll have to take Herucalmo's word for it, for the time being.

He is finding out a lot more than he wants to know.
There probably will be trouble (though not necessarily for Azruhâr).
Yorzim will certainly stick around, although I'm not yet sure about his role in future chapters!
Thank you for your comment!

Responsibility will catch up with Herucalmo, but he could have one carefree moment, as a treat. ;)
He's always been one, just not quite so obviously. Azruhâr, like Nerad, has cleaned up nicely. (If you made him wince, I probably made him squirm now...)
It's not actually that creative; he has seen ice-cellars at home. I hope the ice-cutters won't further complicate the story though!

Herucalmo is trying to emulate his future father-in-law, at least outwardly. And of course he wants to be the hero of his own story. Azruhâr's comments are making him look like the villain, so that complicates matters.

Roitaheru isn't perfect, but he's trying to look after the members of his community. Unfortunately it tends to be at the cost of those outside the community, but it's a new experience for Azruhâr not to be one of the outsiders, at least!
 

It's effective in the short term, but it definitely isn't good. They're well past the point of being friends and teachers...

As he announced, he's demonstrating an absolute loathing for Azruhâr, and whether or not he means it, it certainly feels real to him. But yes, he meant what he said about the King's interest in Azruhâr's "career".

It's certainly introducing him to new ideas, isn't it! Even without becoming a statesman, a knowledge of what the law actually states definitely could come in handy. But it would also be another heavy effort on top of what he already perceives as too much, so currently, Arandur's suggestion is unwelcome and doesn't feel useful at all.

Once again, thank you for your thoughts!

His outsider's gaze is definitely sharper than that of the people who have been born to authority. But he is very much aware of how risky his position is (in fact, he may currently be overestimating the risk).

Azruhâr would hate to serve on the Royal Council! XD But it's a delightful thought, isn't it.

At the time, it would probably have been genuinely difficult to compensate the Tash-naga, but some form of accomodation could surely have been found - if anyone had bothered.
Yes, they might have become a danger (though probably not unless Mordor chose to attack Umbar in the first place). But they might also have been willing to negotiate. When the choice is between Mordor and Númenor and Mordor looks like the friendlier option, you know that you've gone wrong...

Hello Yasemin, your English is fine! Don't worry! Thank you so much for your lovely message. You're right, the story has an ending, although it'll take a while yet until we reach it. And Azruhâr will be an old man who looks back on a long life when he tells it. That's reassuring whenever things look bad for him, isn't it. :) I hope I'll manage to write the next chapter soon, too. Again, thank you for your support!

Thank you! I hope they stay interesting! :)

It's a very prevalent idea among Azruhâr's peers, I'm afraid (just as it's still very prevalent in some modern human communities). Azruhâr probably isn't entirely convinced it's going to work without it, either, but he dislikes punishment for the sake of punishment enough to give it a try.
It absolutely is about trust, yes!
Thank you for your thoughts!

Dârujan definitely has some skills that are useful for documenting things, although it isn't in writing. Eventually, Azruhâr will come to realise that not everything has to be done the exact same way that he was taught - particularly now that there are several people who can share (parts of) the work.

Oh, absolutely! Azruhâr's mental image of himself hasn't caught up with the new reality he's in. As you observed, even the other Númenóreans don't see him in that light. His "low birth" is a lot less obvious than he has been taught if people don't know that's what they're looking for. As for Dârujan, he's been socialised to view 'Númenórean' and 'lordly' as virtually interchangeable, so of course he doesn't see the insecurity (or interprets it differently). If Azruhâr were to confront him about the 'flattering' portrait, he genuinely wouldn't understand what he was talking about.

As always, thank you!

Thank you so much for your kind words! I hope the hard time is over and you're feeling better now - and that you enjoyed the story in spite of its darker themes! <3

That, and probably something else. It definitely isn't just a matter of practice for him.

It was unexpected in that he felt the whole desert people thing was settled for the time being. He didn't think the council would have second thoughts. Now he's hoping to make them to give it a third thought. The one thing he has working in his favour is that the law really wasn't very much thought through. The challenge is more in the formalities than in the actual law...

Thank you for your thoughts!

Yes, I think he is. That may not be all there is to it, but it's definitely a huge part of the problem.

It's a set of challenges that he really isn't prepared to deal with. Azruhâr is aware that the council session may go wrong, but it may not go wrong in the way that he expects...

Thank you for your thoughts!

It will, because he is taking it very seriously. Everything would be easier if he didn't have such high demands of himself. It's another opportunity to grow ;)

It could be an exciting opportunity, yes. And yes, peace is hard to find because so many people have different ideas.

So happy that you enjoy this story so much! Thank you for letting me know!

:D You have no idea how difficult it was to sit on my fingers and not spoil everything right away when you and others went "Azruhâr the councillor would be kind of cool" a few chapters ago!

The heights are indeed dizzying, and Azruhâr's fear of falling is justified. The King doesn't take Umbar seriously enough, but he does take everything Azruhâr does inappropriately seriously. It can be hoped that he actually doesn't read the council minutes himself and instead relies on a summary provided by Atanacalmo, who may wisely omit certain details.

He appreciates that the law was repealed, but he'd prefer if he hadn't needed to get involved in it. He'd much prefer to stay invisible. If Amraphel had been there, she'd probably have advised him to get his friends to appeal to the council instead, or she would have talked them into it herself. But unfortunately Azruhâr was on his own (or felt he was on his own), and in his experience, either he has to do the work himself or nobody will do it. He has yet to learn to delegate, let alone to strategically place the right thoughts in the right minds...
The prisoners definitely don't care how it happened; they'll just be relieved to be free.

Thank you!

He still feels his humble beginnings acutely, although he has left them far behind. He is now expected to fill the shoes of someone upper middle class or even noble. In a way, that's a sign of admiration in itself - people trust him to do these things, as they normally wouldn't expect of a low-born commoner like him - although it doesn't necessarily feel that way to him. But really, the fact that he is given all these tasks show that people see his potential and what he makes of it.
Glad that you're one of these people! :D

He's doing his best! I hope the efforts will lead somewhere good. I have some ideas, but you never know for sure how the story will develop.
Again, thank you for your comment!

You know him so well! He totally would. (In fact, he will, on-screen or off.)
Azruhâr didn't ask for any of this - although he probably wished, when he was younger, that people would listen to him for once. But he has been strongly discouraged from that sort of thinking in the meantime. And he has only just started...

He will be more free, but be just as uncomfortable at first, because now he feels constantly has to be someone who he is not. It's a lot of effort for him, at least right now - he'll grow more comfortable as time passes, of course.
The apprentices are definitely glad that their noble visitor is gone, it was quite stressful for them, especially as he was acting kind of threateningly towards Azruhâr and they had to fear that perhaps their livelihood and freedom were going to be taken away. Urdad may have other reasons to dislike Herucalmo, too.

You're right! Azruhâr is far too afraid to lose Amraphel. Even though he feels terribly lonely and doesn't even know when, or if, he'll see her again, it isn't worth risking the love of his life.

You're welcome, and thank you for reading and enjoying!

Thank you!

I'm sure he'll manage to do something stupid that'll make us hate him again sooner or later. But yes, he does have actual feelings!
Azruhâr really couldn't, but it was harder than he'd have thought, considering that he doesn't even return Herucalmo's feelings. Loneliness, and the fear that he would lose the friends he's made if they knew who he (feels he) really is, have taken their toll. At the same time, betraying Amraphel's trust is out of the question, so he knew he had to resist.

It's hard to say whether he just thinks they love their boss, since he loves him and takes everything as confirmation of his personal bias, or whether he picked up on some real admiration. FWIW (and as the below paragraph shows, it may not be worth a lot) I'm sure some of them are in fact happy with their lot and their employer. Certainly not all of them, but I suspect even Yorzim knows that he could have it a lot worse. (I think Yorzim's disregard for Azruhâr lessens with every week that he doesn't seduce his daughter...)

No, I hadn't actually planned for any of this. It's funny to go back to old replies to old comments here and see me say things like "Herucalmo probably doesn't care either way", because I genuinely believed that was true at the time. When Herucalmo first appeared on the scene, I thought he was mildly curious (due to whatever Atanacalmo told him about his Thoughts (TM) concerning Azruhâr) to mildly disdainful ("grandfather must be going soft if he thinks there's any potential there"), a disdain that deepened as they were forced to work together and then perhaps turned to disdainful pity at the time of Eärendur's trial. I thought he was on babysitting duty (quite against his will) because Atanacalmo took Azruhâr's threats to stop struggling to stay alive seriously, and resented it. It wasn't until he caught Azruhâr crying in the library that I figured out that there might be a different story there. So like Azruhâr, I had no idea what was going on for the longest time. Unlike Azruhâr, though, I liked the idea and ran with it. I may regret it later! XD

With Atanacalmo, we can probably take for granted that he's aware of things that could inconvenience his plans - although there can be surprises at times! (He must have been genuinely surprised, and probably annoyed, when he noticed Herucalmo's feelings.) And yes, it makes everything even more complicated. I still have no idea what's the desired outcome, from his perspective.

Thank you for your observations!