"You know him?" Gríma asked in surprise as I knelt by Angaran's restless, prone form.
"He's a young Ithilien ranger," I said softly, reach out to stroke the boy's face. "My husband's looking for him. That's what brought us here."
The mention of Faramir made Gríma's face contort briefly in anger, but I ignored the expression – I had more important things on my mind. "Why is he here?" I asked. I glared accusingly at Gríma. "What are you doing to him?"
Gríma sighed in frustration. "I'm trying to help him, actually," he said angrily. "I'm so pleased you instantly presume that I'm trying to murder him."
"It doesn't look like you're doing your utmost to keep him alive," I said sullenly, looking back at the boy. Angaran was very young for a ranger, with dark shoulder length hair. In earlier days when I had known him his skin was weathered from all the time he spent patrolling Ithilien's grounds; but now his skin was pallid and damp. His hair clung damply to his face, giving him the appearance of a drowned man newly removed from his watery grave. I touched a hand to his forehead and found it ice cold. He was laid out on a pallet in the small room, covered in heavy blankets to keep him warm, and he was tossing feverishly to and fro.
"I'm doing what I can for him," Gríma said shortly. He stepped into the room, closing the door to prevent a draft. "I found him out in Fangorn as I slipped out to gather some food and herbs. He was very sick, so I brought him back to the tower to see what I could do for him. Professional curiosity, I suppose – he suffers from one of the many plagues of the forest, none of which any healer has ever been able to cure. I imagine you recall my interest in medicine."
I nodded a little; I remembered very well, for Gríma had ministered to me more than once when I had fallen ill – desperate to protect his prize, I supposed. Gríma had never used the services of the court's healers; rather, he had counted on his own skills with herbs and his knowledge of herb lore to protect him in case of illness. I guessed it was something of a necessity, as Gríma had often been ill in his time and had not been well liked enough to trust that the healers would do everything they could to save him. "I have not heard of these forest plagues," I said to him warily.
"They are discussed only amongst healers, my Lady, and admirers of forest lore," he said. "They are whispered about in old tales, of course; Fangorn is infamous for its dangers. But they are feared and little is known about them, so they are mere whispers within the tales."
I glanced at the bubbling pot above the fire. "What's in that?" I inquired, glancing up at him.
"Medicine," he said shortly.
I took Angaran's hand in mine, and the boy moaned miserably, turning away from me. "Is there… is there anything more you can do for him?" I asked unhappily.
"Actually, he's doing better than he was," Gríma told me, a touch of arrogance in his voice. "I think he'll have improved within the next few days."
I looked up hopefully. "You really think so?"
Gríma shrugged casually. "If I continue to tend to him as I have been, yes," he said. "If I were to stop… he would fall back into his previous state and die."
I frowned. "Why would you stop?" I questioned.
He smiled coldly. "What reason do I have to spare an underling of the man who has stolen my princess from me?" he asked me.
I stared at him, dumbstruck with horror and fury. "He couldn't steal what you didn't already have," I finally spat.
Gríma's eyes narrowed. "Tread carefully, princess," he warned me ominously. "The doors of Orthanc have been barred to you, and you will not easily pass out of them again."
"Do you dare to threaten me?" I hissed, leaping to my feet. "You are the most heartless, soulless, miserable little worm of a man that I ever knew! How can you possibly -?"
Angaran groaned again, and I fell silent, looking at him with worry.
Gríma pulled open the door. "We should continue this argument… elsewhere, my Lady," he said, bowing me mockingly through the door.
I glared at him, but I knew he was right, and I walked past him, through the black corridor and out into his bedchamber. Being there made me nervous, but Gríma darted in front of me to lean easily against the door out, blocking my escape. I growled in the back of my throat and turned away, walking to the opposite end of the room. "You can't possibly be so inhuman as to kill an innocent man in vengeance for a marriage that he had no part in," I said after a moment. I sounded far more confident than I felt; inwardly, I wasn't certain that Gríma was human anymore.
Gríma smirked slightly. "Can't I?" he questioned. "Have I not done it before?"
I drew in my breath sharply. "Why do you think this will win you anything, snake?" I demanded. "These actions make you even more repulsive to me than you were before!"
"Careful what you say, princess, lest you regret it," Gríma said calmly. "You would do well to remember that you are in my territory now, with no escape except through me; and I do have powers quite capable of bending you to my will, if all else fails."
I shuddered at the recollection of his sweet voice. "That's not what you want," I said assuredly. "You don't want to force me to bend to you. You want me willingly, and you can't pretend otherwise."
The small smile that had been playing across his face evaporated. "This is so," he confessed, somewhat regretfully. "But you will find, my Lady, that I am getting a little desperate."
"So it would seem," I said bitterly. "Wouldn't it be wise, you think, if you seek the quickest path to my heart, to continue healing Angaran? Wouldn't that show me your good will towards the outside world, my husband and myself?"
"Ah, but see, therein lies the problem – your husband," he said, his voice dripping with derision. "How can I be sure that your heart will actually be mine when you ask this favor of me not for yourself, but for your husband?"
I crossed my arms over my chest. "You certainly won't endear yourself to me by killing the boy," I said icily.
"No, I don't suppose I will," he said, somewhat carelessly. He studied me for a moment, then said softly, "If his life means so much to you… would you be willing to trade for it?"
I was momentarily stunned into silence. "I… I… trade what?" I asked suspiciously.
He smirked. "I think you know."
My heart thudded noisily in my ears. "I… I don't…!"
"Just one night, Éowyn," Gríma said smoothly. "It's such a simple thing, such a little span of time…"
I narrowed my eyes. "How do I know you'll release me in the morning?"
He grinned. "You'll have to trust me," he said.
I snorted. "As far as I can throw you," I said hotly, which only made him laugh.
"Clever woman," he murmured. "Éowyn, really. Even if I were to keep you here – and I will admit that the possibility is very, very real – for another man's life, the life of a friend, the happiness of your husband… wouldn't it be worth it?"
Damn him. I blinked back angry tears, but he knew I couldn't resist such a bargain. My own life mattered little to me. But the lives of others… those I could never gamble – and he was well aware of it.
"One night," I said finally, and the triumph on Gríma's face made me ill. "On one condition," I said, holding up my hand.
He frowned slightly. "What?" he snapped.
"I have to see Angaran's improvement first," I said. "I have to know, in my heart – see with my own eyes – that he will live." I smiled bitterly. "No payment for no service."
He looked furious, but it was a reasonable request and he knew he could not sway me. "It could take days," he said quietly. "Weeks, even. I'm not sure of the exact time. Would you stay here, locked away in this tower with me, avoiding me at every possible moment, until you were certain of Angaran's life?"
"No," I said evenly. "I will leave this place tonight, ride back to my husband's camp, and stay with him. In a week I will return to see how Angaran is progressing."
"And how do I know that you will come back?" he asked icily.
I smiled. "You'll have to trust me," I replied. "And I am by far more honorable than you. Unlike you, I hold to my word."
He shook his head. "Not in this, you won't," he said certainly. "You will ride to your husband's camp and send him and his men here to slay me." I opened my mouth to protest, but he silenced me by saying, "And if not that, you will never return."
"A man's life hangs in balance!" I cried.
"So does yours," Gríma countered. "In a week's time you will have thought long of the consequences of coming here. You will think of the danger in returning to me; you will fear being kept here in this tower for the remainder of your life far too much to ride back. And what use is your return, if Angaran has died? You will surely not give to me the prize I seek, and if I do not have that who is to say I will release you?"
"You will agree – !" I started.
"To a boon?" Gríma laughed. "A promise from me? Will you trust that, Éowyn? Will you trust the word of the Wormtongue, place your life in my hands?"
I shuddered. "That is what I am doing," I whispered.
"And you are also fleeing," he said flatly. "Like a coward, you would run back to your husband's arms and have him end the bargain for you."
"That is not so!" I shouted, fury rising in me. "If you think I do not honor my words, snake, then you have never known me at all!"
He smiled bitterly. "Your honor is very important to you; any can see that plainly," he said. "I do not doubt that at this moment you fully intend to keep your promise. But understand it from my side, love: if I release you, that is seven days I am without you; seven days that you are far from me and with your husband; seven days that you are free to do as you will and think as you will. Stronger men, when granted such a gift, might use it to escape. I am sorry, my princess, but I cannot in all reasonableness let you leave this tower." He bowed mockingly. "No payment for no service."
"You bastard," I spat.
He met my angry eyes evenly. "I have already lost you once," he said. "I do not intend to let it happen again."
I wanted to scream. I wanted to fly at him and beat him to a blood pulp. I wanted to do all sorts of violence to his sneering, mocking person, but such actions had already proven futile. I drew in a shaky breath to calm myself. "Then what would you have me do?" I asked, my voice deadly quiet.
"Do as you wish," he said. "Withhold yourself until you see Angaran's improvement. Stay until he is well enough to leave."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "And in the meantime?"
"You are free to wander within the tower as you choose," he said, making a sweeping gesture towards the rooms behind him. "You may of course spend as much time in my quarters as you wish. I will assume that this will be strictly to visit Angaran, as I have no doubt you don't wish to see me. When Angaran has improved sufficiently, I will have…" He paused, eyes flickering downwards and then back to my face. "… my, ah, payment," he concluded, voice embarrassed, "And you will have your freedom."
I stared him down. He didn't flinch. "I will be free to wander the tower without your escort?" I asked.
He inclined his head in agreement.
"You will leave me be even when I am with Angaran?" I pushed
"If that is your wish," he said, clearly pained.
I hesitated. "And where then am I to sleep?" I asked.
With me, his eyes said. But his mouth told me, "You can sleep here; I sleep mostly in my study as it is."
"I expect to be left alone while I rest," I said coldly.
"As you always have been," Gríma replied.
I snorted in disbelief, but he did not waver. "Even if I chose not to agree to this," I said, "Would you let me go now?"
He hesitated, just long enough to give me hope. Then he shook his head, and looked weary. "I cannot," he said. "I am sorry, my Lady, but… I cannot."
I felt defeated. I hung my head, rubbing my arms to keep back the cold of the tower. Its chill was beginning to take me. "My husband is a ranger," I warned. "When I do not return he may well track me here."
"It won't matter," Gríma said. "He will not find an entrance into Orthanc. The way is shut to any I do not wish to see. And the windows of this tower only begin at the higher levels, where it is impossible to reach. You are in a very impenetrable fortress, my Lady."
I clenched my teeth. "A cage," I hissed.
He smiled wryly. "One day we all must face our fears, Éowyn," he said.
"I hope that day arrives soon for you," I spat.
The smile faded, and he turned away. "It is very late, princess," he said. "You should sleep."
I glanced at the small, slanted windows high above my head. It was still dark, but I sensed it would not be much longer. It had indeed been a very long night. "You will leave me," I said forcefully.
"I am leaving you," he said. With that, he turned away from me and was gone.
