Iron Forged Brotherhood
Chapter 3 - Darkest Hour
At the pace of the gallop, days were shorter than they were when at a more casual means of travel, for it seemed they only just left Erebor, and were once again there. Upon their arrival, Kalvis stormed off before Eoden even dismounted, their horses fatigued, and weary. Luckily they hand't been ridden to their deaths. Kalvis was exhausted and famished, which made for an irritable half-dwarf. He ate nothing during those days, for his worry was bigger than his needs.
With ease, Eoden dismounted Brego, finally at a stop, where the horses were taken by caring hands to be fed and watered. "I'm sorry for wearing you out, my friend" he gave Brego an apologetic petting before he was taken to a stable. Eoden swallowed hard as he watched on, before making a hasty retreat in the direction where he saw Kalvis flee.
With no hesitation, the new prince broke into the halls of the stronghold, "Fariwyn!" he bellowed. Just as he headed hastily to his bedroom, two guards blocked his passing on mid hall, "Get out of my way!" he yelled.
"M'lord, by orders of the midwife, you cannot pass" said one of the dwarf guards.
"Under what authority does a midwife overrides my orders?! Get out of my way, NOW!" his voice boomed loudly all along the hallway. Not waiting for any further words, Kalvis pushed the guards out of his way, advancing through the corridor until he reached the doors of his bedroom. He slammed them open to see three dwarf maids hurriedly carrying baskets full of blood stained linen blankets. They got startled with the abrupt entrance of the prince.
"M'lord, you need to wait outside. We cannot have you here right now!" said one of the dwarf maids, wide eyed and gulping.
"Since when do I need authorization to enter my bed chambers?!" yelled Kalvis. He was not in the mood to answer to anyone, even less a subject.
"Please M'lord, all this noise will do no good to your wife, please!" the maid pleaded, but he totally ignored her. She held his arm in a failed attempt to stop him, but he cast her aside when he saw blood staining the covers where his wife lied, pale and weak.
His sea blue eyes widened in a shocked expression, "Fariwyn…" his voice trailed off in a hoarse exhale. With no second thoughts, he rushed into bed, pulling her worn out body against his chest where he held her tight. "I'm here, my love. I arrived as soon as the circumstances allowed." Her sleep chemise was bloody on the skirt area with a large stain that continued to expand.
All the shouting helped Eoden find the exact room where the commotion was coming from. What he saw left him speechless and numb as he stood in the doorway, still as a statue, even as those coming in and out of the chambers bumped past him.
"M'lord, you should not move her. She is too weak from all the blood loss..." said the Midwife.
"How did this happen?" he demanded, grabbing the midwife by the collar of her dress.
She gulped before giving an answer, "Miscarriage... of... triplets..."
Those words softened the half-dwarf's grip as he let go of the midwife. He fought the lump on his throat when he heard the ill fate of his heirs, only brought back to his senses with Fariwyn's weak whisper, "Kalvis…" her voice trailed off almost inaudible. Her head leaned lazily against his chest, like a rag doll without will between his strong arms, shivering. Her pale blue irises were widely dilated with her sight gone and her golden hair was drenched in cold sweat.
"Shh... shh… shh… save your energies. I'm here to take care of you, my love." he said in staggered whispers.
"I… I'm sorry… Kal.. visss…" Fariwyn expired at that moment, her mouth remained in the form of the last syllable she pronounced.
"Fariwyn, stay with me." Kalvis shook her gently to no avail, whispering her name softly, "Fariwyn... Fariwyn?" Her head hung back heavily from his arms, she was not breathing. "Fariwyn!? Don't leave me.. Fariwyn?" his pleading tone became broken before he lost composure, screaming her name with impotence, "No! No! No!.. "
The screams of Kalvis pierced the ears of all who were inside of that bed chamber. He pressed his forehead against hers, sobbing uncontrollably with tears that streamed nonstop down his face.
Eoden's world crumbled to dust at that very moment, he couldn't bring himself to believe what seemed to him a surreal scene. All he heard and saw became tunneled and the bodies moving about in and out of the room were blurred. Many thoughts numbed his mind; how their dishonest union took place; how the promise of bringing her back to her parents alive and unspoiled slipped through his fingers; how they did not escape the cruel fate that awaits those who act against the established morals; and how her plead to see her mother again remained unfulfilled, not by his doing, but by unexpected natural causes.
"This is why we do not mate with other races. Dwarflings are too robust for a fragile womb" said a male healer coldly. That was the most horrible set of words to say at the worse of timings.
Kalvis saw red. He abandoned the corpse of his wife, as he crawled out of bed like a wild beast, to grab the dwarf man by the throat and pin him high against the wall with one hand, "She was my wife, you rukhsul! How about you take her place in the halls of Mahal?!" his eyes narrowed with hatred and his teeth clenched as he kept closing his hands around the throat of the careless dwarf man with blind rage.
The maids and midwife tried to stop him, but he was too strong. The more they struggled, the deeper he strangled, until two guards entered the bedroom to separate them. After a long moment of applying bruit force, the guards finally succeeded at breaking them apart. The healer fell on his rear with a loud thud, coughing heavily and breathing with difficulty.
Kalvis yelled at them all, "Get out! All of you! Curse you, Erebor! Curse you!" he finally dropped to his knees, sobbing with impotence, "Curse you…"
All the dwarves flee out of the bedroom, leaving a broken prince behind. He carried Fariwyn out of bed and sat on the floor with her in arms, trying to cling up to what was left of her. He cradled her body back and forth on his lap, his cheek pressed against hers as he felt her skin growing colder and her limbs stiffening.
Eoden too was ready to turn his back and leave, when the broken words of his friend made him stop. He couldn't leave his friend to grieve alone, even though he himself still couldn't come to terms with the reality of it.
"Everything I did, I did for you. I never wanted this life. I never wanted this fate. My only crime was to love you" Kalvis felt a horrible weight over his shoulders, blaming himself for her death. He never liked the idea of Erebor from the beginning.
Speech failed Eoden as he walked towards where his friend sat, still clinging to the body of his wife. He knelt beside them, his hand grazed over his dead cousin's brow, towards her golden hair.
Lady Dis entered the room shortly after, to presence the terrible scene. She covered her mouth with her hand before running to her nephew. Her robust hands caressed his long hair gently, as mother instincts began to flourish. It took a lot of gentle talk to finally convince Kalvis of letting go of Fariwyn's body, so they could prepare her for the funeral.
Eoden gave a firm pat upon Kalvis's shoulder, eyes searching his, before he left the room to deal with his own grief.
For a full week, Kalvis watched over the still body of his wife, lying peacefully on a stone platform with candles all around her. He watched day and night, sleep and food deprived. Deep inside he hoped this to be a nightmare from which he would soon wake. He did not allow anyone to come close to her until he was absolutely positive that she was dead. Each passing day his hopes faded, until he finally accepted her passing with resignation. Kalvis practically shut himself down from the outside world after that, with a bottle of rum in hand to numb the pain. If it wasn't for his aunt Dis, he'd starve himself, still locked down in his bedroom.
By his request, and after plenty of argues with the king, finally they came to agreements on where to make the grave monument for her. She was no dwarf, and therefore would not be allowed to be buried with the Durin sons. And if taken back to Ithilien where she belonged, some resentment of her parents would not allow Kalvis to visit frequently. So he decided to have the monument built in Anórien where they first met. With the proper negotiations and wealthy currency exchanges, the landlord allowed it.
Once word was given that the grave was finished, Kalvis traveled along with his friends and family with the casket on a carriage to Anórien, where the remains of Fariwyn would dwell. The grave stone was engraved in both Khuzdul and common language as a tribute to his heritage. She was only 19 when the Valar claimed her soul. All of her immediate family was there. Eoden made sure to send word to them, knowing that if a message was sent by him, it wouldn't cause wonder, but certainty, and it was the proper thing to do.
The funeral service was brief, for there was not much to say. Lady Eowyn's grief was unbearable to witness, and would pain anyone who possessed a heart as the casket of her only daughter was lowered into the ground. She collapsed when Kalvis handed her the necklace that belonged to Fariwyn, as she came to the realization that her daughter was gone forever. Lord Faramir refrained from reacting with resentment against Kalvis, who promised to protect his daughter's life with his own if needed. However, natural causes were not contemplated in the protection plans.
With eyes cast down, the dwarf prince handed Fariwyn's letter of their marriage to her father, before dropping to his knees where he lost composure and sobbed uncontrollably. He had no words to explain the unfortunate events. Lord Faramir wanted to hurt him, but that would not bring his daughter back. So he placed a hand on the widower's shoulder instead.
Elboron, Fariwyn's older brother, departed shortly after the service to take care of Ithilien in his parents' absence, not wishing to hurry their grief. Eoden spent little time with his uncle and aunt, after Kalvis left their sight. Little could be said to ease the grief, but his presence, although mostly silent, was very appreciated.
Lady Elenath, Aeryn's cousin, showed up in representation of Rivendell because she was close by. "Vendui, I am sorry for your loss, I only hope you will find solace and that your memories will be of some comfort" she said to Kalvis, who remained silent because of the lump on his throat. "If there is anything I can do to help ease your suffering let me know" she added.
"I am sure he is grateful for your disposition, m'lady. I am Fundin, at your service!" responded the ginger dwarf while bowing deeply in the customs of Erebor.
While they introduced to one another, Kalvis placed two long stemmed red roses at the stone where it read 'loving wife and companion'. Dark circles around his eyes denoted how worn out he was, deprived from sleep.
When the internment was over with, Eoden only lingered a few moments before he found his way to the tavern. He sought comfort in the ale provided, where he sat at a table on his own. His solitude was interrupted by Lady Elenath, who followed him in.
"Eoden, I am Elenath of Rivendell, you probably don't remember me but I am here to ease your suffering" her eyes contemplated him suggestively, sitting across from him and placing her soft palm gently on his forearm as if expecting something else.
"You are the cousin of who I intend to wed, I know who you are. Aeryn has mentioned you before." He explained, his tone was neither hostile nor friendly. But certainly he was disgusted by her obvious attempt to take advantage.
"Oh, right. How silly of me to forget my cousins intended" Elenath changed her approach, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
The young Rohirrim lifted his eyes to the elven lady, "Can you make my word mean anything?" He asked coyly, still full of resentment for the word he gave to his cousin's parents and couldn't keep.
They did not remain alone for long, when Kalvis and his companion Fundin entered the tavern and joined them at the table. Eoden felt relieved to know he would not spend another second alone with the unrequited advances of the elven lady. He and Kalvis nodded silently to one another in acknowledgement, sharing the same gloomy faces.
Elenath excused herself to the gentlemen, "I must depart now for I must report to my father how the service went, he was so annoyed he could not attend" with that said, she disappeared from sight silently.
Fundin stopped one of the wenches and ordered two rounds of liquor, "Let's drink the pain away like the warriors we are!" he said, trying to cheer up his companions.
After downing a few pints like they were water, Kalvis began to pour his heart for all to hear. A heart that had remained silent since the passing of Fariwyn, "I am sure the Valar are punishing me. Should I controlled my impulses, she would still live. How are titles and riches any good when the reason behind them has been ripped off from me? From us? If love is a crime, then why did the Valar not take me instead?" The bottom of his half empty pint was slammed hardly on the tabletop. A slight spillage occurred as the mead inside splashed outside of his mug.
"M'lord, Mahal would not take you in her stead, because Durin sons are not meant to die of natural causes. It is only in the battlefield that we give our last. Soon as you fight your first battle, you will feel in your blood the joy of being close to feasting in the great halls. We are meant to die with honor!" said Fundin pridefully.
Kalvis laughed uncontrollably, "Honor you say… Honor…" he slammed both of his fists angrily over the table, making all the mugs jump slightly off their base before he began to raise his voice, "And what honor do you suppose I have? Can you tell me? Not a thousand battles can redeem me of what I did! THAT grave out there should not exist! You hear me?"
Eoden rolled his eyes, fed up at how everyone would blame themselves before and after the funeral, "Enough!" he declared loudly, after swallowing a large gulp of ale, "We can all sit here blaming ourselves all day, but will that change anything?" He spoke blatantly, and perhaps even the ale played in his words, "I can part ways with you and blame you, and I can also blame myself, but I cannot part with myself." He took another drink from his pint, and when it set on the table again, his eyes were on Kalvis once more. "I can also say, I've known her longer than all of you, but I have not loved her the way you have, Kalvis. Often we collided on what we thought was right and wrong, duty and expectation. And I criticized her many times for the way she used her mother to justify her will. But I also know she craved to see the world beyond what she knew, and to know what love really was. So if you blame yourself for anything, it should be for granting her wish. You gave her everything she wished for, and everything she lived for... That's what you should blame yourself for."
"Thank you Master Rohirrim" said Fundin wholeheartedly, "M'Lord, he is right. Blaming yourself will not bring her back. Besides, this is not the place to air out personal things. Here, have some more mead!" Fundin slid off another pint on Kalvis's direction, "Be glad you met her in this time and this era. To some of us, our first and last love is the battlefield and our axes. You were blessed to have a glimpse of it."
Both princes felt silent, drowning their sorrows in alcohol.
Fundin got a mug and raised it in the air, offering a cheer to appease the moods, "We all share a passion for life. We adhere to it like every day is the last, something the immortals will never understand. We pass and they stay. To life!"
Kalvis raised one of his bushy eyebrows to his companion, unimpressed by his speech. Eoden too was unmoved by his words, and not wishing to add anymore than what was already spoken.
"Um... right..." Fundin concluded his best remark was silence, but not before whispering a few last words to Kalvis, "Sooner or later, you will meet with her again, M'Lord. Just make the best you can with your remaining years, so her passing was not in vain."
