The Pretender Chronicles - Audience With the Pretender (SPOILERS!)
A tale freshly told of the Gondorian
Alphros discusses Ceredir\'s intentions and Yussef weighs in.
_-\' Lord\'s Chambers `-_
The inner sanctum of the Lord Fotud. It is a beautiful room...the floor is made of white marble, with the ceiling painted to look like the boughs of a shade tree if one were to look up. In all, it is cheerful and cozy, with pale greens everywhere, a respite from the harsh colors of the desert.
A large four-posted bed dominates the room, with a painting of a grassy green field hanging on the wall above it.
Against the far wall is a desk, covered with documents that bear Fotud\'s haphazard handwriting, and a large bookcase. There are books on navigation, astronomy, mathematics, battle strategy, herbs and healing on its shelves, all well-read and slightly used.
On the other side of the room is a dresser with a fine mirror, and decking the walls are several swords that one might guess to be trophies of war, as well as several paintings. The paintings show different scenes...one of the Umbar docks and another of a foreign, desert city.
In the far corner of the room, shielded partially by a screen is a marble bathtub and on the other side of the room is a balcony that offers an incomprable view of the city.
[+TIME] Middle-earth time is:
Daytime on Hevensday, Day 4 of July.
Execute the +TIMEFRAME command for year information.
Real time is: 17:13:44 MDT on Tue Mar 24 2009.
[Alphros(#31271)]
The chambers of the Lord of Farside are watched over by Tower Guardsmen within sits the master of this Tower, cloaked in shadows, but unveiled. A book is placed before him, open, but he is otherwise alone... save for the prowling of a few cats that have managed to find their way past the guards into these chambers.
Outside, the sun sets and the moon begins its gradual climb over the city of Umbar.
It is quite evident that Ceredir is nervous as he is ushered into this private chamber. The young officer\'s eyes flit nervously about the room, looking to Alphros and away again repeatedly. He licks his lips and then bows, cautiously. \"My lord.\"
[Alphros(#31271)]
Alphros turns slightly in his seat, and gestures to Ceredir as he is ushered within. \"Be seated, Ceredir. So we may speak.\" Turning back to his wide desk, he withdraws a piece of parchment and smooths it atop the wooden panelling. It is the letter found on the Gondorian man. \"Or Natan Lathnosson. Tell me, you go by this secret name, and yet you introduced me plainly -- before all your peers -- as Ceredir, your true one by which I met you in the tents at Poros. Whyso?\"
\"My lord..\" Ceredir repeats himself and then hastily takes a seat. \"It was a traveling name, so that word would never get back to Gondor that I had somehow come here. Yet, Captain Azradi when she took our ship, immediately recognized me and called me by my true name. So I dropped the pretense.\"
\"All others in our party use traveling names, though.\"
[Alphros(#31271)]
\"Including Aganhuzun,\" Alphros notes as he nods in acceptance of Ceredir\'s explanation, \"The one who you name Gurtir in Gondor, who goes by his own name here.\" The fingers of a hand rap one by one against the surface of the table, as the Lord again reviews the Gondorian letter before him.
\"Tell me more of this... Black Hand,\" he says simply.
[Yussef(#19036)]
A cat now circles the legs of the guard and escort of Ceredir\'s who now throws a glance over his shoulder seeing with certainty that the door is firmly shut.
It is.
The cat purrs even as it leaves its mark -- strands of fur -- on the guardsman\'s brow-hued leggings and black boots. Stood thus with spear loosely held in one hand, its lower end secure on the floor, Yussef appears to not heed it overmuch. His eyes fleet past the scout of Gondor, and settles somewhere beyond Lord Alphros seat distantly.
The cat meows.
\"Aganhuzun?\" The name stumps Ceredir, who shakes his head, showing no recognition until Alphros mentions the man\'s Gondor name. \"Yes...well, if it was known that he had sworn to you...he would not be allowed to live by some back home who know of this mission but do not know of his allegiances.\"
\"The Black Hand..as the letter says, they are men loyal to the rightful King of Gondor. Men who wish for the reign of the Steward to end. Men who feel that Gondor will only be renewed and revived once her King is returned.\"
\"They are hopeful, my lord,\" he says, turning bright eyes to Alphros.
[Alphros(#31271)]
Alphros nods. \"And are you an emissary of this Black Hand, Ceredir? Or one who comes merely seeking to profit from the ambitions of the Heir of Tarannon? Or one who comes with deceit in his heart, as he once did at Poros?\" For a moment, the Lord\'s eyes shine darkly in judgment. Then he glances at the Guard Yussef, consideration in his mien. But for the moment he does not say anything.
[Yussef(#19036)]
In turn, the Lord\'s glance is met by one quickly downcast the Guard\'s head bowing even in that moment. Yussef speaks none, though his shoulders rise and fall by scarce a hair, subtly so.
\"I do not, my lord! I do not come with deceit in my heart, and if you are truly our king and a man of Numenor\'s line, then you will know this and see it clearly in my own heart!\" Ceredir says, protesting.
And then the Master Scout gets quickly out of his chair and pushes it to the side to take to one knee in front of the desk. \"Aganhuzun...came with deceit in his heart last time to you, as well. And he...saw the truth. He is, as I have told Yussef--\" he glances to the guardsman--\"he is like a father to me and I have sworn my life to uphold his purpose and his cause.\"
\"I come before you to make amends for my previous faults. I come as a messenger to the men of the Black Hand, yet they are still deciding on your authenticity. My own mind is made up.\"
[Alphros(#31271)]
Alphros\'s fingers rap against the desk a final time. For a long moment his undivided attention lingers on the Gondorian, and secret things seem to move behind the dark grey facade of his gaze... the rumblings of the blood of Numenor, perhaps, which are indeed said to bless its scions with the gifts of judging men.
Then the Lord nods, but does not immediately respond to Ceredir. Instead he glances at Yussef, raising an eyebrow. \"What say you to all this, Guardsman Yussef?\"
[Yussef(#19036)]
The guardsman\'s lids stir even as he looks up perplexed at Alphros. His answer, that is not delayed, is in the tongue perused here, though broken.
\"I do not know this... Aganhuzun. Nor Gurtir,\" And here his glance fleets to Ceredir for a moment, black it\'s expression. Only that. \"And this... black hand I have heard tell of only in passing. But so far...\"
\"He tells you the same he has told me in confidence, Lord. If he lies, I do not know.\"
[<#19036>] Yussef adds, then, on the southron tongue, \"
\"Tis true, I did not mention the Black Hand to the Guardsmen Yussef, but I did speak of Baiz. The name that Aganhuzun is using here among the men of Gondor. They are one person--Gurtir, Baiz, Aganhuzun, and the man is my former commander. The Black Hand,\" Ceredir continues, \"I felt would be best to mention only to you my lord. But of Baiz, to whom I have sworn...I did not feel harm would come from it.\"
[Alphros(#31271)]
Again, Alphros considers this thoughtfully, and again he nods. \"Fairly spoken,\" he says to the Guardsman. Then to Ceredir: \"Before I say what next I will, I must clarify... You and Aganhuzun have come here on behalf of the Black Hand of Gondor, which seeks to place a rightful King upon the throne? In secrecy beyond the knowledge of your fellow men and women who accompany you?\"
\"Yes, my lord, that is correct. The men and women who accompany us are intrigued by the possibility of a King returned and by your lineage. And that has drawn them here, despite the danger of doing so, both here and at home, if we ever return. But they know nothing of the Black Hand and of this letter I carried here,\" Ceredir says.
The Master Scout then adds very quietly, \"Not even my wife knows of it.\"
[Yussef(#19036)]
Yussef bends like a straw in the wind, neck and waist both and so he remains for a breath \'ere the acknowledgement of his recount, and so stands erect, glance fleeting by the animal so befriended with his boots, \'ere looking again the back wall.
[Alphros(#31271)]
\"Secrecy is necessary in such times, when fools sit on false thrones and their pawns wield sword and iron against the righteous,\" Alphros consents in a steel-writ tone. \"This Black Hand... I can place little faith in, yet. For why should I till I see they are indeed men who might support me, and not merely shadows seeking to manipulate me to their advantage, or even seeking my downfall? Still, proof of my lineage I can provide. Proof of my right I will provide. But I shall not show it to you here in private, Ceredir, and each Gondorian with you in such manner. For then whispers and rumours abound. Nay, when each of you has made your case to me, we shall gather in the throne hall where I sit as King-in-Waiting and Heir-in-Exile, and I shall prove my claim to you all, in the light bright of day, so that you may have proof to match the truth already nurtured in your heart... And so that you may also bear word of such proof back to this Black Hand in the shadows.\"
The Lord of Farside lifts a hand to touch at his crownless brow. \"Of course as I must prove myself to you, I expect those who would in truth follow me to prove themselves also. Your young wife, who named herself Nelladel... That is also her true name, aye?\"
\"Then I await that day with eagerness,\" Ceredir says, and then nods to the question asked of him.
\"Aye, my lord, that is her true name. Nelladel Telpekhor, though she is shunned from her family now because she married me.\" Ceredir blinks, worry crossing his face. \"I know not how to prove myself to you. Other than that I came here voluntarily once more, despite the Poros and the reputation I gained there as asassin.\"
[Alphros(#31271)]
\"I would counsel you to counsel her. I turn away no man or woman who comes to me seeking rightful service, but she is naive if she thinks that the path that she follows is an easy one... Betrayal, even if done for the greater good, breeds few friends on either side.\"
Alphros clears his throat. \"She will have to prove herself, in time, if she truly follows the right path. You... Ceredir. From a man of Gondor -- especially one who has before come to me with ill wishes, even if now repented -- I extract a certain price. A certain undeniable, physical proof. For there are lies deeper than what can be read by the Adunai. You have seen the price I extracted from Aganhuzun already, in payment and in proof... The finger upon his left hand.\"
\"I will so advise her,\" Ceredir replies, humbly. \"She is a willful and headstrong woman and I have not yet learned how to guide her best. For if I press her too hard, she does the opposite of what I desire and..and somehow she works it so that it seems my fault and I have to apologize to her.\" Ceredir turns briefly to Yussef as he says this, and he seems to redden a little at this confession as well.
\"But...but my lord...\" the Master Scout says, responding to the next. \"Mine is already gone.\" Holding up his left hand, it can be seen that the ring finger is missing, cleanly cut away. \"If I lose another from this hand, I will have no grip at all with which to fight. And from my right hand, it weakens my fighting at once.\"
[<#19036>]
Brow creased, a sinew at work underneath his hollow cheek, the Guard Yussef\'s countenance is a distanced one -- thoughtful, even.
Until, at the least, the mentioned of such taxes, where his glance sways to and fro between first Ceredir and Alphros, and back again, settling on the raised hand. The void upon it, to be precise.
An eyebrow perches high above it as his glance then flicks elsewhere, ceaseless in its wandering for a few moments, \'ere it grows still.
[Alphros(#31271)]
Alphros doesn\'t smile as Ceredir concedes the difficulty of marriage. He merely says: \"Then do your best to impress upon her the seriousness of the situation which she pursues. She has already announced her wish to betray Gondor, before her peers -- whether they think her claim a ruse or not. But she is still a Gondorian in Umbar, and her willfulness will not so much as get her chastised, but maimed. Or worse. If she seeks out the Corsairs of the city and proclaims her intentions, many will as soon kill her as even consider her wish. If you value your wife\'s safety, you will do everything to counsel wisdom... For nor will I tolerate foolishness from anybody.\"
That said, Alphros glances at Yussef again. \"I was necessarily thinking that you must remove a finger as did Gurtir. The men of Gondor may start to catch on when a horde of fingerless folk show up in their realm after a mysterious absence.\" This he chuckles at. \"Thoughts, Guardsman? It need not... follow precedence.\"
\"She will do no such thing, I assure you. She is my wife and it is my responsiblity to keep her safe, here and in Gondor. And to not interfere with your efforts here.\"
Ceredir swallows hard, turning narrowed grey eyes on Yussef and awaiting his response.
[Yussef(#19036)]
Bleak is the mirth given in turn. The lips curling on Yussef\'s face form a thin smile, eroding slowly. He affords Ceredir no other glance, but looks to Alphros entirely, and levelly for a brief moment.
\"May I speak in our own tongue, Lord?\" He bows his head upon this query, though the gesture is slight enough, \"I am uncertain of the words.\"
[<#31271>] Alphros nods. \"
[<#19036>]
\"
\"
\"
He bows his head.
[Alphros(#31271)]
Alphros listens to Yussef speak at length, and then with a smile, he agrees: \"Wisely said, Guardsman.\" But of this? He says nothing to Ceredir yet. \"We will speak again soon, Ceredir. This much I say: I will make no demand of you, now, but if you wish to prove your worth to me you shall consider something... A sacrifice, worthy of your would-be King. Go and think on it.\"
And then to the Haradaic man: \"Guardsman Yussef, I am promoting you to Tower Sergeant. You are now in command of our guests\'s Guard contingent.\"
\"Yes, my lord,\" Ceredir says, though he frowns. \"Though I am not certain what that could be. I will think on it, as you command.\" He gets to his feet and looks toward the guardsmen, now sergeant, who escorted him in.
[Yussef(#19036)]
The youth blinks.
And bends at the waist in a hurried manner stammering in his broken, \"I thank the Lord anAzulada for his confidence in one such as I! I will not fail you.\"
He remains like so, bent, for the nonce.
[Alphros(#31271)]
A final time, Alphros nods. \"That is all. You may go, and we shall indeed speak later.\"