Lords of Amon Ereb by JazTheBard

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Chapter 3

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The visitors regrouped to confer and compare notes after their meetings.

Eönwë had the most important piece of what they had gathered: "The twins are not mind-turned. Their thoughts, feelings, and memories are clear. Not even a turning done by careful miseducation, free of enchantment, lies upon them."

"Apparently they were adopted to stop their fading after Sirion. My source is one of their people, but one I have known prior to this visit, and I doubt she would lie about such a thing," said Celebrimbor. "She is fiercely loyal to them."

"That seems to be a pattern," said Finarfin. "Their seneschal kept me from asking them anything about their captivity, under the guise of making sure I would not distress them. I do not know if we can trust that, but if it is true and all their people are so devoted, the twins are a terrible force to be reckoned with."

"They are," said Círdan, rubbing his forehead. "From what I heard, there have been incidents of murder and kinslaying when someone had severely upset the peredhil, especially when they were very young."

Oropher said, "There is no dissent among the people, no question of their right or ability to rule. They might as well be Maedhros or Maglor's biological children for the purposes of succession, and they were apparently well trained for this."

"They are not the only ones who may be too loyal. Eönwë and I overheard a conversation between Elrond and Elros, and -- and apparently, Elrond once attempted to swear the Oath," said Gil-Galad.

Finarfin was first to break the horrified silence that followed. "Did he succeed?"

Gil-Galad shook his head. "Maedhros and Maglor stopped him, then destroyed every copy of the words so he could not easily repeat the attempt."

"You'd think they would want more people on their side to fulfill the awful thing," said Oropher. "And it seems counterintuitive to ban their supposed son from doing something that makes his allegiance binding."

"Their seneschal said that the twins were offered the chance to be returned, but freely chose instead to be adopted in the proper manner," said Finarfin. "Once again, I must doubt the veracity of this,  but if it is true, what then?"

"Then we have two loyal Fëanorians who do not know or trust us, their violently protective people who do not like us, no excuse to immediately leave their domain, and no strongholds to retreat to if we did," said Oropher.

Put like that, this was a terrifying situation to be in, even for multiple kings and a Maia.

He continued, "When we cross the mountains, I am going to go find a nice forest and never leave. I am tired of responsibility and politics. Perhaps if I hide in the woods for a few thousand years these twins will decide I am not a threat and leave me to my trees. You folk are on your own."

"Perhaps we will be lucky and they will choose mortality," said Gil-Galad hopefully.

"And what of their people?" asked Celebrimbor. "If you think they will all follow me without complaint, you are lying to yourself. With our luck so far, they would accompany their lords to the Isle of Gift and serve their heirs until their lines die out. And Men can be..." he trailed off.

"I believe the word you are searching for is 'awful,' and you forget that they have mortal supporters as well, who are just as devoted," said Círdan. "But the real issue is we do not know what these lords want. If it is power they desire, they will be difficult to stop, whether here or on the Isle of Gift or in Aman."

"I will offer them the Choice tomorrow, and we shall all look for what insight we can find," said Eönwë.

 

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The next day, Finarfin and Gil-Galad went to speak to the lords of the fortress about their plans for the new Age soon to begin. Finarfin would be returning to Aman, of course.

"--and I will establish my court in what will be left of Ossiriand, at least if there is an appropriate place."

Elros nodded. "We will lead our people east, rather than north to Himring as we had considered. A new start would be beneficial."

"And from what we--"

A five-year-old Edain girl burst into the room, something clutched in her cupped hands. "Lord Elrond, Lord Elros!" she cried.

Gil-Galad immediately panicked on behalf of the child. Normally children were kept away from where important meetings were held to avoid this exact situation, and he now knew the peredhil to be as terrifying as their adoptive fathers. They would not be pleased by the interruption.

But to his surprise, Elrond stopped in the middle of his sentence to smile and scoop her up. "What's that you have there, Orînen?"

"It's a really pretty bug!" she said. "It's all green and shiny, look!" She parted her clasped hands just enough for them to look at the insect.

Elrond oohed and aahed appreciatively.

"That's a very nice bug," said Elros. "Do you want to look at the book in the library to figure out what it is?"

Orînen nodded vigorously, her braids flying about her head.

"Alright, let's -- oh," he turned to Finarfin and Gil-Galad. "My apologies. Orînen, dear one, say hello to the High Kings."

"H'llo, your majesties," she said, shyer now that she was speaking to unknown people, trying to hide behind Elrond despite currently sitting in his lap. "I'm Orînen, daughter of Béa and Tanorth."

"Good job!" said Elrond encouragingly. "Do you want to join us in our grown-up meeting? I think you're old enough if you want to."

She thought about it, then shook her head. "I wanna go to the library and look up my bug. Erestor can go with me, he knows all the best bugs."

Elros put a hand to his chest as if scandalized. "And I don't?"

"You know all the best flowers. It's different," said Orînen. She walked out the door and Erestor bowed before following her.

That had been rather unexpected. Were all children in Amon Ereb coddled so? If so, the twins must have had a very pleasant childhood indeed.

Gil-Galad decided to ask. "Is this a common occurrence?"

"Very," said Elros, "although sometimes she brings flowers or rocks she found instead. All the children do it."

"They do it to all the adults, but mostly us," said Elrond with a small laugh. "Since we are 'in charge,' we must be the first people they show. They did it to atya and atto, too, and so did we when we were small."

"Surely it must be difficult, when you are busy with important matters?" said Gil-Galad.

"What could possibly be more important than the children's happiness?" said Elros, looking puzzled. "Everyone here would do the same. It has always been this way, all the adults acting as aunts and uncles."

As casually as possible, Finarfin said, "So that is how you were raised?"

"Of course. I will admit that it took some getting used to, having such attentive guardians, and so many, especially at first when we were afraid," said Elrond. "But I believe we grew up better for it."

Elros added, "And we were secure in the knowledge that, should we lose our present guardians, someone we knew and loved would take care of us."

Gil-Galad tried not to flinch in reaction to the barbs aimed at the twins' birth parents and himself. "It is good to know that you were supported. We were worried that they had hurt you."

Elrond sighed. "Truly, I do not know what else to say to convince you that we were treated well, even when we were, at least nominally, prisoners. We were never injured or starved or isolated, but loved and cherished by everyone we knew."

Finarfin let the subject drop and returned to negotiation. He needed all his wits for it; the twins were young, but cynical and shrewd from growing up in war.

 

---

 

"We may have a problem," said Galadriel.

Gil-Galad began to panic, but tried to remain outwardly calm. "What is it?" he asked. Even under cover of darkness, they would not be able to get all their people out of the fortress, and it would not buy them much of a head start. If they could make it to Nogrod, where the dwarves might still hold a grudge against Thingol's heirs--

"One of the Men from our host has gone missing. I do not doubt he is either dead or soon to be."

Perhaps they would not have to flee this very moment. He tried to calm his racing heart until he knew whether or not the situation was panic-worthy. "What happened?"

Galadriel said, "From what I heard, he struck a child to make them quiet. Then a great flock of Fëanorians descended on the pair, half of them comforting and hugging the child and the other half dragging the man away. No one has seen him since."

"At least it was not Kinslaying?" Gil-Galad offered weakly.

She gave him a look that said, You may not be entirely wrong, but you are still a fool that I cannot believe I am related to.

"Does it seem as if people want something done about it?" he said. "There is little we can do, but I will try if I must."

Galadriel shook her head. "It may have been drastic, but the man was clearly in the wrong, and all the elves and Men who live here clearly dote on the children and spoil them. I do not know what he expected to happen, really."

“Good, because I do not wish to argue with these people in their own fortress. Or anywhere else, come to think of it, but especially not here. I am doing my best to avoid being the victim of another kinslaying, not least because the twins are my heirs apparent and would inherit the high kingship upon my death.”

“Chin up, it would not have to be a kinslaying that sends you to Mandos. There are plenty of Men around who would gladly kill you for them,” said Galadriel, unreassuringly.

“Thank you so much for that.”

 

Gil-Galad fidgeted. Eönwë was soon to offer the twins the Choice of the Peredhil, and everything hung in the balance. The world seemed to hold its breath in anticipation of their decision.

Gil-Galad fervently hoped that they would choose to be counted among Men, or else sail. He did not believe that they meant harm, not at present, but they still had great potential to cause it.

He stood near Eönwë as the Maia spoke.

"Lord Elros and Lord Elrond, sons of Maedhros and Maglor," said Eönwë, who in light of their legitimate adoption was required to call them such, "the Valar have ordained that all peredhil shall have the Choice to be counted among Men or elves, and to share the fate of the kindred they choose."

The twins' faces remained impassive.

Choosing not to notice, Eönwë went on. "The choice of to take the Gift of Men shall hold for the self and all descendants, though all would be long-lived, even by the standard of the Isle of Gift where you would be welcomed and where longevity shall be bestowed. The children of one who chooses elvenhood will also have this Choice."

The peredhil turned to look at each other. They were clearly speaking mind-to-mind, and the conversation lasted for several minutes.

"We have chosen," Elros announced. "I will take the Gift of Men, and when the time comes I will lead the Men of our people to the Isle of Gift."

"And I shall be an elf," said Elrond. "That said, with your permission, High King Gil-Galad, I would like for our House to join your court."

What?

Everyone else seemed just as confused. Were they truly sundering their fates in such a way? But it appeared they had heard correctly.

Elros would go to the Isle of Gift, and Elrond would -- ai, Valar, he would go with Gil-Galad! He could not refuse to have his kinsman at his court, though he would bring with him all the elves of the House of Fëanor. At least Gil-Galad would be able to keep an eye on him.

"I would be honored," he said.

It did not seem as if Elrond planned to have him assassinated, and thus far the twins had been entirely honest in their words and desire to protect their people.

For it all to be false, they would have to be very good actors indeed.