Breaking Point by Himring

Chapter 1

He walked away, silent, head held high, but felt himself deeply shaken. When he reached the safety of his chamber, he locked the door, fell to his knees and began retching.

When he rose, he knew he had left Aphanuzîr dead on the floor and could only wear that name as a mask, ever again. He had been both, the King’s friend and Faithful, however uneasily, but from this day on he was Amandil only.

I cannot follow you, Ar-Pharazon.

There was only one loyalty, he had discovered, from which no one could be absolved in heart for any cause.

Chapter End Notes

The context from which the prompt is taken continues:

'If I thought that Manwë needed such a messenger,' said Amandil, 'I would betray the King. For there is but one loyalty from which no man can be absolved in heart for any cause.'

That could be read rather straightforwardly as saying that Amandil's loyalty is to Manwë, but on re-reading it, it seemed to go deeper than that. So here is Amandil reaching that conclusion, earlier. (The substitution of "one" for "man" is deliberate.)

Aphanuzîr is Amandil's Numenorean name (i.e. in Adunaic).

100 words in MS Word.