Menelglir Becomes a Squire

Dol Amroth: Prince\'s Castle - North Battlements

Stone and sky grapple with one another here, each winning by turns. A brace of massive towers frames this battlement: eastward the Knights\' Tower--misnamed, it seems, for it is more a small castle in its own right--and to the west the looming Tower of Imrazor, a tower in sooth. Looking over the chest-high battlements in either direction, though, the sky is the victor to the north, far below, lies the Bay of Edhellond surrounded by the town of Dol Amroth. Southward opens the Upper Courtyard, not so far below, and the distant Belegaer beyond it.

The Bay of Edhellond glimmers a dark blue in the daylight, dotted with sails and hulls, wakes trailing white foam behind. The city crawls with the tiny forms of its citizens, ant-like from this vantage, with faint puffs of smoke rising to dissipate in the clear southern air. The courtyard is likewise a site of busy activity, with men and women in fine livery or martial gear marching to and fro on business, while this battlement seems a spot of relative calm with its sentries alone. Though these men are sometimes joined by an errant seagull--most are not bold enough to perch here, but those that do are rarely shunned--offtimes their only companions are the stone and the sky.

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Weather:            Rainy

Time:               Late Afternoon <18>

Season:             Winter

Date:               Oraearon - January 20, 3047

Real Time:          Fri May 29 19:44:02 2009

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[Arashen(#24692)]

Below the battlements and to the north stretches the city of Dol Amroth, and in turn, the Bay of Belfalas. A steady cold rain obscures the view into an even grey haze. Even the masts of the Tall ships laying at dock are but misty indistinct shapes.

A hooded Knight leans against the stoneworks, gazing out on this rainy tableau. Water beads upon the light wool of his cloak, sloughing off in to small rivulets.

The battlements might be a spot for quiet contemplation, but this rainy day, at least, the Knight is not fated to enjoy that. Footsteps can be heard approaching the battlements, followed by the sound of a young man\'s voice.

\"I know exactly what the weather is outside, but I still want to see,\" one of a pair of cloaked and hooded youths insists as he pushes his way outside. \"And I want to hear your reasons again. There\'s something about the whole decision that does not seem right.\"

[Merenglir(#23897)] \"I\'ve told you a dozen times! Enough already!\" Merenglir replies, his tone sharp with irritation as he turns a glower upon his brother, giving Menel a hard shove to push him away. \"I\'m allowed to decide something for myself.\"

[Arashen(#24692)]

The shrouded head turns and Arashen\'s features peer out from beneath the hood. He smiles at the twins. \"Good afternoon, boys.\"

\"What are you arguming about today? How to turn one of the Prince\'s fountains into dish water? Or perhaps you\'ve devised a way to turn all the waters of the bay orange.\"

\"Arashen...afternoon. Sorry, didn\'t know you were up here...\" Menelglir says. He pulls his own hood up against the rain and gives his brother a disgusted look as he continues. \"Neither. We\'re arguing about Merenglir wanting to join the Scouts. I think he\'s doing it for the wrong reasons, but he...he wants to do what he wants to do.\"

Merenglir stands at Menel\'s side, his eyes narrowed in anger and his hands clenched into fists. In a low, cutting voice, he says, \"Maybe they\'re the right reasons and you just don\'t understand. I know what I want to do, instead of simply doing what I\'m -supposed- to.\" He notices the disgusted look from his brother and his fragile hold on his temper is lost. \"Stop looking at me like that!\" Meren swings at his twin, a well-aimed strike at Menel\'s face.

[Arashen(#24692)]

\"And he will be free to,\" Arashen replies to the elder of the twins, Menelglir, \"once we return to Minas Tirith and he has seen the men who serve Lord Faramir in their true manner.\"

\"Assuming he would still like to...\" Merenglir takes a swing at the elder. \"Stop it,\" Arashen demands, his voice losing its amiability and becoming stern. He reaches to grab the young Page\'s arm.

Distracted by Arashen, Menelglir does not see the hit coming, and it takes him along the side of the head, sending him stumbling backwards a few paces. It\'s not a hard hit, but he rubs at the side of his head and glares at Meren.

\"Fine. I won\'t speak of it at all again. Ever.\" His voice has a hard, cold edge to it that is unusual for him.

Menelglir turns to Arashen, voice still cold. \"I want to be a squire. I want to swear it.\"

[Imrakhor(#30834)]

His mein is dark, ever dark, and his eyes as mottled a grey as the waters of Belegaer are blue. It is only the cape, a rich crimson, that distinguishes him from the haze as he comes upon the trio of figures. He hears their words.

\"Swear to whom, boy? The diminishing Order of a Prince long missing?\"

It is Imrakhor, Lord of the Bragollachs, Knight-Captain of Amroth.

[Merenglir(#23897)] \"Why can\'t you just try understanding?! Instead of getting all ang-.. \" Meren cuts short at Menel\'s request for Arashen, scowling. \"Oh. That\'s very mature, Menel. Have you even thought about anything else? You might be interested in the Company too if you learned about them.\" At the words behind them, Merenglir turns to look, watching Imrakhor approach.

[Arashen(#24692)]

Having failed to catch the Page\'s arm, Arashen scowls at Merenglir. \"Hold your tongue, boy! Right now you have shown yourself unfit for either the Order or the Company of Ithilien. You have, however, earned yourself another week in the stables for striking your brother.\"

\"Knight-Captain,\" the Telpekhor Knight greets, turning to nod at the Bragollach lord somberly. \"It seems to me that with the Prince missing, our need for new squires is even more dire.\"

\"Are you sure of this course, Menelglir?\" He asks the elder twin. \"It is a serious oath to swear and you could die in the service of the Prince, absent or not.\"

[Imrakhor(#30834)]

\"Sir Arashen speaks rightly, boy, and it is oath that meets with death at both ends. In service of it and in the breaking of it. Do not speak lightly.\"

The Knight-Captain looks at Menelglir.

Merenglir looks back at Arashen, protest on his face but he keeps his mouth shut. \"Sorry, sir.\" The youth says with only the barest hint of remorse in his tone. He too, looks at his brother now, waiting to see what Menelglir will say. In a more normal voice, his anger gone. \"You don\'t have to do it now, Menel.\"

\"Shut up, Meren,\" Menelglir hisses under his breath, his hands balling up into fists at his brother\'s angry words. Still, he holds his place where he had stumbled backwards, not stepping forward and closer to his brother, though he still glares at him.

\"I am certain of it.\" Though these words are said still with anger in his voice, Menelglir turns a steady gaze first at Arashen, then Imrakhor.

\"Better to die trying than to curl up in a ball somewhere and just give up. Better to die fighting than to throw your life away doing nothing useful at all. Better to die fighting than to die when your horse throws you because it thinks a rock on the ground is a snake.\" This last a reference to the death of the twin\'s father when they were young.

Menelglir turns to look at Bor directly. \"There is always death. Always.\"

[Imrakhor(#30834)]

\"Take his oath, Arashen,\" says the Knight-Captain.

[Arashen(#24692)]

Cool winds tug at the Telpekhor Knight\'s cloak as the young man pulls himself up to his full height. Proudly he holds his head and says, \"Then swear these words Menelglir of House Telpekhor: Here do I swear fealty to Gondor and to the Lord and Prince of Dol Amroth to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until my lord release me, or death take me, or the world end.\"

Merenglir hears the knight-captain\'s words, and a worried glance is flicked between Arashen as he begins speaking the oath and then on to Menelglir. He approaches his brother, speaking softly now. \"Menel.. Can\'t you wait, just a bit longer? We were supposed to take our oaths together.\" So swiftly has his attitude changed now that the tables have turned.

[Imrakhor(#30834)]

\"Quiet!\" snaps Imrakhor at Merenglir.

Menelglir draws a long breath, letting it out slowly as the Bragollach lord accepts his answer, and his eyes close briefly before he turns to Arashen, waiting to repeat the oath.

\"Here do I, Meneglir of House Telpekhor, swear fealty to ...\"

Imrakhor\'s questioning may not have cause the youth to hesitate, but this quiet question from his twin makes him suddenly stumble over his words, flushing and losing his composure.

[Arashen(#24692)]

\"Such oaths are things only an individual man can decide upon,\" Arashen says into the ensuing silence, his tone somber. \"It matters little what ones brother or even father wishes. An oath binds a man to his lord - it is no small thing that Lord Hirluin has granted you both the right to swear elsewhere.\"

The Knight\'s hard eyes fall upon the younger of the twins. \"You demand that brother understand your longing for the Company of Ithilien, but you interrupt a sacred and important moment when your brother makes his own decisions? A decision in keeping with the traditions of our Great House?\"

Merenglir begins to say more, but Imrakhor\'s sharp command silences him. He presses his lips together and focuses his grey eyes onto his brother, a hurt expression on his face. Arashen\'s questioning draws a glance from Meren, \"No, sir. I\'m sorry.\" He answers in a quiet voice, finally compliant. \"Forget what I said, Menel.\" The page takes a step back, standing motionless.

[Arashen(#24692)]

\"Menelglir?\" Arashen says, returning his attention to the elder. \"Are you certain of this?\"

Menelglir stares at his brother, but answers Arashen.

\"I am. It\'s what I\'ve always wanted, and I\'ve thought through this moment many times. Just..\" He pauses. \"I thought Meren and I would take our oaths together, too.\"

\"But..we will not. You\'re right, Arashen, it\'s a decision we each have to make on our own. And if it is not right for Meren, well..then I can\'t force him into it.\"

\"But it _is_ what I want.\"

[Imrakhor(#30834)]

\"Proceed,\" says the Lord Bragollach to Arashen. \"If this is the lone obstacle that this boy faces in his path, then we should be grateful.\"

[Arashen(#24692)]

\"His path may be different and he has the right to pursue it. Or it may be that it is just not his time yet,\" Arashen answers, nodding in agreement with the Knight-Captain. He draws his sword with a ring of metal and holds it upright before him. \"Proceed if you still will it, Menelglir.\"

[<#23897>] Merenglir meets his twin\'s gaze for a long moment, then nods slowly and turns to look at Arashen as the knight draws the blade. \"It\'s what you\'ve always wanted. Do it.\" He says softly to his brother, voice pitched so that it will not carry far. \"Father would be proud, and so will I.\"

\"You\'ll find something, Meren. Maybe the Company. Maybe you\'re right,\" Menelglir answers, his voice also low. He grins briefly, once, then turns back to Arashen and takes a deep breath. His oath is given quietly but solemnly.

\"Here do I, Menelglir of House Telpekhor, swear fealty to Gondor and to the Lord and Prince of Dol Amroth to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until my lord release me, or death take me, or the world end.\"

[Arashen(#24692)]

The Telpekhor\'s eyes shine with some deep and ancient light. They do not stray from the countenance of his young kinsman when he solemnly answers, \"And this do I hear, Arashen of House Telpekhor, Knight of the Swan, as representative of Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth and Denethor, Ecthelion\'s son, Lord of Gondor, and Steward of the High King: We will not forget it, nor fail to reward that which is given: fealty with love, valor with honor, oath breaking with vengeance.\"

Merenglir watches as his brother swears the oath, wholely focused upon him as the binding words are spoken. The anger of earlier is gone as some new kind of truce replaces it. It was a short disagreement, but not insignificant.

As Arashen speaks his part, Menelglir\'s gaze is steady on the young Knight. And when the words are finished and the oath is through, he is still silent, eyes dropping. He looks up after a moment to Arashen and tries a smile, though it is more polite than anything else, whatever happiness the moment might hold fully tempered by the solemnity of the oath and the seeming parting of ways of the twins.

\"I suppose I should see the Quartermaster,\" he says after another moment more of silence, glancing down at his Page uniform.

[Arashen(#24692)]

\"You should,\" agrees the younger of the Knights. Arashen wipes his blade dry with the inside of his cloak and sheathes it. He smiles at the new White Squire. \"And you will be assigned to new quarters. The Squire\'s barracks are in the Knight\'s Tower.\"

\"They will do for now, until we return to Minas Tirith?\" Arashen comments, but he looks questioningly to the Knight-Captain.

Merenglir watches for a moment, then turns to leave. There\'s a brief flash of sorrow on his face, but he says nothing and the direction he chooses is that of the stableyard.

\"Arashen. Thank you.\" Menelglir is still subdued as he addresses his cousin, but then the older of the twins has been that way for most of their stay in Dol Amroth. A look of pain crosses his expression as Meren leaves without him and without a word--he stares in that direction before finally looking back to Arashen.

\"I\'ll try to help him but...I don\'t know how. He\'s changed or changing, and I\'m not changing the same way,\" he frowns. \"And this will not help but...\" A grimace, and a shrug.

[Arashen(#24692)]

\"He will find his way,\" Arashen predicts, \"It was he that tried to leave in a different direction than you both thought - so feel no remorse for that. Perhaps his path will bring him back to yours, perhaps not.\"

\"The elder Telpekhor claps the young squire on the shoulder. \"Now off to the Quartermaster with you, once you have received your new clothes you may go find your brother.\"

Then without another work, the Knight strides off towards the eastern door that leads to the Knight\'s Tower.