Signs of things to come
The man called Andias emerged from the hollow and squinted against the strengthening sun. They had first heard the sound of horses as the wind dropped just after dawn and most of their bedraggled little group had retreated further into the caves having brutally learned that riders rarely brought good to such as they.
It was less than a year since the men had come out of the further east to harry them, driving them from their farmsteads and pushing them west All through the summer and autumn they had trekked on, winding their way across the dark and hostile land of the Withered Heath into the foothills of the Grey Mountains. For a while they had struggled on as the weather worsened, wrapping themselves against the rain and wind, making their way slowly through the lower slopes, living on the little they had managed to forage, looking for a place to settle and always knowing that the further west they travelled the less welcome they would be. Then winter came, swift and vicious and they had been forced to take shelter, surviving on the meagre remnants of the supplies they had fled with and whatever their traps could catch. But the winter was not short and the cold went on, the knife like wind ever present, and though they huddled in the deepest caves they could find it seemed unlikely they would survive until the spring. Already the children cried ceaselessly at the bitter cold and their empty bellies, but there was little that their parents could do for them for nothing grew in the rocky scrub at this season. Nor could they turn and risk returning to their abandoned lands now far away in the east.
Andias and a few of the men had left the main group in the deeper caves and had come closer to the plain hoping to find some game. All one day and night they had watched the empty lands seeing nothing but snow and ice and a rolling fog that drifted up from the shadow of a great forest that grew to the south. As their faint hope of finding food faded away they had looked to the horizon and debated amongst themselves about striking out and trying to make the shelter of those trees, but there was a wide expanse of open land between them and even the outposts of the great tree covered hills, and in their hearts they knew that many of their small number would not survive the trek.
Even so they had not entirely given up the hope of it and so there had been no measuring their dismay when they heard the sounds of many horses coming up from the south east
As the oncoming party drew closer it was clear that it was indeed many horses, and carts too by the sound of it and for a moment their spirits rose hoping that it might be a party of merchants risking the weather to travel to some city in the west; merchants who might be persuaded to spare them a little food and maybe a blanket or two if only for the children's sake, even if they would want paying later. But even merchants would have guards and if they carried gold or other wealth then any welcome was more likely to be an arrow than alms. Andias waived his companions further into cover until they could better judge the nature of the party travelling in their direction.
For a while some hope remained in the little group but as the oncoming horses turned towards the foothills of the mountains and closer to where they sheltered that hope began to fade and the fear that these were more lordless men took hold. Then, as they watched from the shadows, the heavy pall of cloud thinned for a moment increasing the light across the plain and their fears were strengthened, for the flashes of light they saw in the distance had the look of sun on armour. A company of warriors then, and probably not much different to those they had first fled from. Andias sighed but knew that it was foolish to remain and risk the wrath of whatever lord it might be passing by, for he had seen enough of the deeds of temperamental lords in the east. He motioned to his companions and they slipped and slid slowly backwards and upwards towards the caves from which they had emerged.
As they climbed higher he looked back and the sight filled him with renewed alarm for in the brighter light he could see that this was not a handful of men but a long column of soldiers in armour. Unable to tear his eyes away he stared at them far longer than was safe, 'it must be a whole company' he though, then, taking in the standard bearers to front side and rear and the pennants flying from lances, 'nor are they landless or lordless wild men'. Who then were they? The sight of the armoured warriors filled him with terror but he looked with hopeless longing at the provisions carts that sat within the heart of the advancing column. The hunger gnawing at him made him suddenly reckless and rather than slip back into the caves he sheltered in the lee of a large rock and watched the line of men and horse approach
Then suddenly the sun opened a wider crack in the cloud and for an instant its rays flickered on the man at the head of the column and Andias felt his blood turn to ice, for the way the light danced around his uncovered head could only mean one thing, a crown, the head of the column was wearing a crown. A King then, the most powerful Lord of them all, and if he were here then it seemed likely that Andias and the others were in his land and without his permission. If that were true then they were unlikely to find any mercy, for kings were jealous of their lands.
Andias had never met a king before but even so he knew more of them than he wished to. In the wars of the further east there had been many who called themselves kings, often petty lordlings whose only claim to nobility was their willingness to let more men's blood more quickly than a lesser lord. It was often the poor who bore the brunt of their ceaseless jostling for position and Andias had known more than his share of pain and loss as result of their struggles for power. No doubt it was some king in the east who had given away the old lords land and granted the raiding parties the permission to drive them from their homes or take them into servitiude.
No he had no desire to find himself at the uncertain mercy of one who wore a crown.
'But perhaps you are mistaken' the voice of his desperation whispered, 'perhaps it was just a trick of the light and they are merchants who might give us aid.
He edged back into the shelter of a larger bolder and turned to whisper to his companions.
"What should we do? They are many, more than I first supposed and if I am not mistaken the one at the head of them wears a crown. What approaches us is a King and his retinue, and I can see no reason why a King should be riding abroad in such weather unless this is his land.
"If that is so then we might throw ourselves upon his mercy and beg aid for our children's sake." one of the others replied. "If we accept him as our Lord then perhaps he will forgive our intrusion into his lands, for it is not as if we have taken it from his own.
"And he might not!" Another added. " Even if we have taken nothing and usurp no one he might still put us all to the sword as interlopers and landless vagabonds, and take our women and children into slavery. Safer to lay low and let him pass, if we survive this winter then come the spring we can see how the land lies and if the word is favourable we can send requests for the right to homestead within his lands.
"And if it not favourable?" Andias asked, "What then? Where do we go when there are mountains to the north and west? I will not return east. No, let him pass I say and hope that he does not notice us, and if he later does, then we may as well die here as there.|
"But if we do not seek aid now we will not survive the winter!" the second exclaimed. "Perhaps you are mistaken and it is a party of merchants. They are too far away for us to be sure this is a king approaching, I say we hide ourselves and watch as they come closer, if your fears prove just we can remain hidden until they have passed."
Andias looked towards the approaching column, which, even in this short time, seemed to have moved much closer, and sighed. What choice did they have after all, and perhaps he had been mistaken. With another sigh he nodded and they all scrambled back deeper into the shadows of the boulders
The wait stretched their nerves to breaking point for the column of riders seemed to be in no hurry and more than once they halted whilst one or two of their number dismounted and inspected the ground in some strange but apparently meaningful way. But slow as it was their approach was also inexorable and the distance between the two parties was steadily, if slowly, eaten away. The closer they came the deeper Andias's fears became for it was clear that most of them were indeed in some form of armour. The horses too betrayed them, for they were fine beasts bred for hunting and fast travel not the slower farm and pack steeds he was used to. The one at the head of the column drew his attention nearly as powerfully as its rider for it was the largest horse he thought he had ever seen, taller than a man to the shoulder he'd guess, with a long arched neck and powerful chest. Its coat was as black as a moonless winter sky and the unplaited mane and tail were long and thick. Yet despite its size its rider did not seem diminished, and the more he watched this horse and rider the more certain he became that this was no merchant. The way the rider sat his horse, the straight back and the sympathetic movement between him and his mount, spoke more of a warrior used to long hours in the saddle than a dealer in goods, however wealthy.
There was something else about him that drew Andias's attention too, for even at a distance he had an air of authority, of power even, one that spoke of high rank held for a long time, and yet he also had an aura of youth and physical prowess that seemed to be at odds with that demeanour. The closer they came the more uneasy Andias felt and yet he could not turn away and run. So distracted was he in wondering about who these people were that the front of the line was almost upon them before he realised it and only an urgent hand from behind him ensured that he was pulled back into the shadows before they drew level.
The line the column travelled passed about a quarter of a mile from where his little group sheltered, huddled well back into the outlying rocks in deep shadow and out of the light of the sun, and provided they were quiet they should have been safe enough. He would have sworn that they made no sound, nor any movement, that might have given them away and yet as the head of the line passed them the man on the black horse suddenly turned and looked in their direction and shouted out something in a language Andias did not understand. The riders around him drew bows from their backs training them upon their hiding place and a clutch of riders in armour peeled away from the line and headed in their direction.
The soldiers moved quickly, more so than Andias expected, and they were surrounded before they could flee. They knew better than to offer any resistance and made no protest as they were herded like sheep into a cleft within the rocks whilst four archers kept arrows trained upon them .Efficient hands searched them, yet the touch was surprisingly light and there was none of the casual brutality that they had all expected. Whoever these people were they were well trained and disciplined, not mercenaries then and unlikely to be the guard of some petty warlord, But that did not offer much hope for a greater Lord might yet mean grief for their little band and their sheltering companions. The small party exchanged looks, each seeing the same surprise and confusion in the others faces, and also the first hints of a febrile hope that might yet get them all killed.
Andias looked at the soldiers surrounding them as closely as he dared, watching them from under his lashes and only fully lowering his eyes when one of them looked his way. Though they were all in armour, and armed to the hilt with bow and sword, there was something about the little that could be seen of their faces that puzzled him, yet he could not put his finger on what it was.
But that was soon of secondary importance for when the search was completed one of the searchers returned to the waiting company and made a report to the man on the black horse. They all felt their chests tighten around their hearts, each one knowing that this was when their fate would be decided.
For a long moment the rider of the black horse looked at them and it seemed to them that he was debating with himself, would he make more inquiries about their presence or simply kill them and leave their bodies in the snow? Andias felt a momentary relief as the man seemed to come to a decision and gracefully dismounted his horse and moved towards them. Clearly he did not intend to kill them out of hand unless he expected to do the deed himself. As he approached they exchanged worried looks for it was now clear that he did indeed wear a crown upon his brow, and a sword upon each hip. But he would have been a disturbing sight even had he not for he was the most impressive figure that any of them had ever seen; no lord they had ever caught sight of in the east had been like this one.
He had seemed tall seated upon his horse but now dismounted it was clear he was well above the height of most men, and though he looked to have the wide shoulders and strong arms of a swords man there was also something lithe and graceful about him that was uncommon. He was dressed like a warrior in well fitting armour over a coat of light mail but that armour was itself as strange as any Andias had ever seen, as different to the heavy plate steel of the armed men of the east as he could be imagine. Some great craft had been used in producing such mail and as Andias saw the grey shimmer of it he wondered if it were steel at all. But there was little time for such fancies for the Lord wearing it was nearly upon them, his long and easy strides closing the distance quickly and yet as silently as a forest stag. Now he was so close they could see that his cloak fell to his ankles in graceful folders of grey lined with blue, and his pale gold hair was long and hung loose down his back constrained only by the silver links of his crown.
Andias like all his men lowered his eyes in humility and waited for whatever fate this strange lord had in store for them.
As the Lord drew close Andias waited for the soldiers at their side to push them to their knees, but no armoured hand fell upon his shoulder and though he cast his eyes down he remained standing, waiting for whatever was to come. If this unknown King wanted him to kneel as those in the east would have done he would do it gladly to save their lives but he would not do it until he had to. Instead he focussed on the armoured tips of the approaching boots and tried to slow his racing heart, open fear had never served them well before and there was no reason to assume it would be different here. If sudden death was to be his fate then begging for mercy would make no difference.
For a moment there was no sound but the wind and the shuffling feet of the men behind him, then without warning there was a voice and it was as strange as the man who spoke.
"Man ceril aranarth? Am man the led?"
The voice was deep and resonant, quiet and calm and as musical as the wind over ripe crops, yet the authority within it was unmistakable, and whoever he was he clearly expected to be understood.
Andias drew a deep breath and looked up into the face of the strange lord, meeting eyes as blue as the summer sky set under strongly marked brows, eyes that yet again looked strange in some indefinable way. Starnjge too was his face, for he was as fair as the flowers in spring and there was about him something that suggested sunlight contained. Andias shook his head, trying to recover his wits, and his expression sad and apologetic as he spread his hands and spoke slowly.
"I would gladly answer anything but I do not understand what you ask my Lord."
The blue eyes widened as if in surprise or shock and for a moment their gaze seemed to drift, losing focus as if looking at something only he could see. Andias saw the armoured chest and shoulders rise in a deep breath, saw the steel sheathed hands clench into fists, and knew that for some reason he had angered this man in whose hands their future sat. For a long moment there was silence, around him Andias could feel the tensions ripple though the watching soldiers and waited for the hard command that would end their lives and leave their wives and children unprotected, no doubt to be hunted down like game by this company, Despair bit him but he struggled to hold the gaze of the lord before him as if by doing so he could persuade him of their innocent intent.
Nothing moved as the seconds stretched and then the golden haired king blinked and his hands relaxed as his focus returned to the here and now, but even as he did his look became colder and more distant.
"You are men of the east." He said eventually.
The words were flat and harsh and he stumbled a little in their execution as if he had not spoken the language in a long time and was struggling to recall the words. It did not sound as if he found any pleasure in doing so and for the little huddle of men the first wave of relief gave way to more fear.
"Yes my Lord." Was all Andias managed to say before a hand was raised to silence him.
"Why are easterlings trespassing in my Realm?"|
"We did not know that we were Sire."
The king stared down at him, as one of his stature would do to most Andias realised, and the blue eyes scanned his face with an expression that was grim and hard, before he spoke again.
"Explain yourself and do not think to lie to me for I will know."
The voice was cold as the winter wind and Andias was taken with a sudden certainty that should he lie this lord would indeed know it.
He drew a deep breath dropping his eyes from the hard blue gaze and spoke softly and slowly.
"As you have said we come from the further east and in the spring of last year there was war yet further east again of our homeland and our liege lord was killed, his lands being gifted to one of the victors. At first we thought the new lord would allow us to remain unmolested as long as we gave him loyalty and his due. But in that we were proved wrong. The crops were barely planted when the raiding parties began to ride across the old lord's lands, villages were set ablaze and many were taken into bondage or worse."
He swallowed hard on the sudden surge of memory and his voice thickened in sorrow.
"It was early on a late spring day when we saw the smoke from the burning of the nearest village and we did not wait for them to tire of their sport there and turn their horses our way, we packed all that remained of the winters stores, gathered those of our beasts that we could drive and fled our village and into the forests close by. When the horsemen had given up the search and departed, we set off to make our way across into the north and did not stop until we reached the hinterlands of the Withered Heath. There we camped for a short while but the land was beak and we knew they might always be behind us and so we moved on until we reached the fringes of the mountains. There we halted for a while but we knew that autumn would soon be drawing on and while the weather held we threaded our way though whatever gap in the mountains that we could find."
He looked up into the kings face again and smiled a sad and twisted smile.
"Some of us died upon the journey, our beasts fled or were let loose when the grazing ended for we could not feed them nor could we carry the meat. When winter came we had no choice but to halt and find what shelter we could, but it has been hard and more have succumbed to the cold and hunger. Now our children cry until they are exhausted and we knew we needed to find food or all would die. A few of us came to this place in hope of better hunting. But I swear to you my Lord that we did not know that we trespassed upon any Realm. We long ago lost any real sense of where we were."
The cold blue eyes had remained fixed upon him as he had spoken and the expression of the king's face had not shifted from watchful calm.
"How many of you remain?" He now asked.
"A score or so my Lord."
"Families you say, women and children too.
Andias felt the fear rise in him again for he knew well how their pursuers in the east would have used such information, but he also knew there was no longer any choice, he could trust to this strange Lords mercy or they would starve in the caves. Was that a better fate? With a feeling of hopeless despair he shrugged
"Yes Sire"
For a long moment the king stared at him with an expression that was impossible to read, and then he turned slightly and shouted a command in the language they did not understand, at his words six of the soldiers from behind him dismounted and crossed to stand before him. He gave them some instruction and they bowed their understanding and waited, then he turned back towards the huddled little group and tilted his head a little to stare down into Andias's face as he said,
"You will lead my soldiers to them."
Andias felt the rising swell of terror run through him and swallowed hard, his throat feeling as if it were lined with iron bands, wondering if he had just betrayed his companions to their deaths. Perhaps his fear was visible for a momentary surprise flashed across the king's face and he spoke again, a little less harshly than before.
"If you have spoken the truth you have nothing to fear, your women and children will take no harm of me or my kin, we are not easterlings and such things are not our way."
He turned to issue another command and as he did so a sudden squall of wind lifted his hair a little and the group of men drew deep breaths as his strangeness was explained; for his hair parted a little in the draft and for the first time they saw the points to his ears that could only mean one thing. Andias heard the muttered oaths behind him and prayed for them to be silent as they realised the truth of this strange King. For this mighty lord who owned their fate was not a man at all but an Elf!
XXX
They had pitched camp and Thranduil was seated in his tent staring at maps when the report came.
'They spoke the truth my Lord, mainly women and children. Nor do they have a weapon between them other than what might be expected for hunting or travelling through the mountains."
The king nodded, he had not really expected anything else.
"I did not doubt it. Feed them and give them blankets if they need them. Are there any who require any other assistance?" He spoke without looking up.
The captain of the guard shook his head.\
"Most are in a poor state my lord but nothing that food and rest will not resolve with time. At least that would be the case if they were elves, it is harder to judge with the sons of men. There are amongst the children one or two that seem more sickly."
At that the king did look up and stared at the brazier for a moment before replying.
"See that they are attended to and then get them all into one of the empty carts."
"Yes my lord, what do you wish us to do with them?"
Thranduil sat back and steepled his hands beneath his chin.
"Send them to their kin on the lake, though it may take time to arrange. For the moment organise an escort to return them to the toll takers encampment at the river crossing then send a rider down to the Master informing him of their plight and seeking refuge for them. The escort is to remain with them until the men of the lake send aid; I would not have easterlings at large unsupervised however innocent and harmless they may appear. I well recall such stratagems from the past and it needs caution whatever the first impression may be."
"Very well my Lord. Do you believe that they have some other purpose?"
The king considered for a moment before replying.
"This group, no. they have spoken the truth as far as they understand it yes, but that does not mean that others do not make use of them even now, or will seek to do so in the future."."
He reached for his pen.
"It would seem that the further east is yet again descending in war and strife and the men of Dale and the Lake must be informed of this for they will need to be on their guard if the situation in the further east worsens. In time they may find themselves having to deal with the dispossessed men of the defeated lords for which they will need to prepare. The courier can take a second letter for the Master of Lake town and then ride on to Dale with one for Bard. Make sure sufficient provisions are provided for such a journey,"
"Yes my Lord; and what would you have us do now?"
"We will remain camped here tonight, make sure the easterlings have the necessary shelter and feed them as they need, particularly the children."
The captain nodded and left without further words.
For a while Thranduill stared at the paper before him, wondering how best to frame words to convey the sudden sense of a chill wind arising that had blown through his mind when first he heard that accursed language again. Bard was no fool and had seen the power of the creatures of the darkness for himself but how to explain to him the new danger? This small group of helpless farmers had been lucky to survive and were no threat but others who would be may yet follow the same trail. The easterlings had been promised much by Sauron in the last age and none of it had come to pass, their well of bitterness and desire for revenge had seemed to be bottomless then and he saw no reason to assume that it had changed.
While the dragon had lived he had been sure that those of the further east would not risk crossing the Heath or the mountains but with the deterrent of dragon fire removed who could say what would eventually arise. After all that was the true reason he had gone to the mountain when Smaug died. Though there were none he would admit that too unless he had to, after all he had spent many years protecting the present from the shadows of the past. With Dain in the mountain his most pressing concerns had eased, difficult though the dwarf might be, but this development stirred new doubts and fears. While he couldn't share those fears with Dain as matters stood he could be sure that Bard would.
For a moment he stared blindly at the paper and cursed Oakenshield and his line with every soldier's curse he had ever learned, for the damage he had done was far greater than the dwarf had ever guessed.
Then he pickled up his pen and, choosing his words with great care, he set about setting the men of Dale and Lake upon their guard.
When he was satisfied with the result he sealed the letters and he rose and left his tent, calling for the captain of the guard to take them. The sun was sinking towards the west now and the escort and the little group of intruders could not leave before first light, maybe not then if the weather worsened. But by the time he resumed his journey and turned towards the meeting point with Legolas they would be on their way towards the lake.
Yet Thranduil felt restless, his long fostered calm forced and hollow, and he knew that he could not ignore the clamour of his memory if he was to have any rest. So he turned away from his tent and passed though the camp and beyond it to a point where he could look upon the shadows spreading across the mountains that hid the withered heath from his view.
As he looked towards them he drew a deep sigh and the present fell away again as it had when the man first spoke, and he was back in the past, south not north, and at the gates of Mordor. Orc and easterling had rallied to Sauron's call then and the battles had been long and bitter before the gates fell and the dark one fled. For three millennia he had buried the memories of those deeds within the walls of his mind, never allowing them the light, denying them any power over his life or the lives of his people; yet twice now in less than ten springs they had escaped, and whilst no blood had been spilled this time still their emerging left him shaken and chilled. Fear of what he was now sure was to come clawed at his heart and he closed his eyes and prayed for the strength to do what it might require of him and for the grace to hope that this really would be the final battle.
