Chapter 20: Sámotára's Trial

Sámotára kept his eyes trained on the ground, refusing to look up at the Valar. His arms were wrapped around his torso, and his shoulders were hunched. He was also trembling; though not nearly as bad as Nityatinwë had during his trial.

Aulë's young Maia had been terrified out of his mind, even though the Valar had been gentle with him. Even so, he'd still broken down almost instantly under their questioning, and admitted everything. After cross-examining him closely, the Valar had decided it had been fear that'd led him to follow Nehtartúra into his madness. His punishment was to stay with Aulë, and work closer with both him and Yavanna to earn trust back and hopefully grow a bit of a backbone. Or at least learn how to stand up to someone. Either way, a period of time under close supervision from the Valar would do him a world of good.

None of the Valar were naïve enough to think Sámotára would be that easy. This Maia had a lot of pre-existing issues they were already aware of (and some they probably weren't); and his recent behaviour had only made it even more apparent he was not doing as well as they'd thought.

That didn't mean the Valar weren't looking forward to seeing how Sámotára would explain his actions. He was old enough and had enough life experience that he should know better.

The trial began the same way all the others had, with Námo listing the charges against the accused at Manwë's bidding. When the Maia was asked to give a reason for his actions, there was silence for a few moments. The Valar waited patiently, having learnt it could take a while for the Maiar to gather their thoughts.

Finally, Sámotára glanced up at Manwë. While he had voluntarily switched allegiance to serve Irmo not long ago, force of habit had him looking at his former lord, as he licked his lips nervously. The Maia swallowed several times, before managing to stutter out a sentence.

"H-He said he would hurt her if I didn't do what he wanted."

The Valar blinked as one. Irmo spoke first, his tone gentle, his eyes full of concern for his newest Maia.

"Who is 'her'?"

Sámotára's eyes were glued to the ground again.

"L-Lírinellë. He made me help him under pain of Líri being hurt, and also promised me that, if I breathed a word about what he was doing to anyone, she would suffer. I – I didn't have a choice but to do what he said." The Maia finished in a rush, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I – she is not a warrior, but a healer. She can't defend herself. And I'm not strong enough to defend her. Not in that way, not anymore. All I could do was whatever he said, hoping he'd keep his word, and leave her alone."

Manwë then spoke.

"He threatened to hurt her?"

The Maia shuddered.

"Y-yes. He-he promised if-if I breathed a word about him to anyone, sh-she…"

Sámotára dropped to his knees. His shoulders shook as he buried his face in his hands.

"I kn-know what I did was wrong. I-I didn't want to do it. But I couldn't let him hurt her. She – she means too much to me."

The last sentence was said lower than a whisper, but all the Valar still heard it. Exchanging looks with each other, Irmo spoke first.

"Does she know how you feel about her?"

The Maia shook his head.

"N-No. I was too scared to tell her before. And then…"

Sámotára trailed off, eyes planted firmly on the ground. Varda spoke next.

"Why didn't you go to your lord about this?"

The Maia did not lift his head.

"He promised to hurt her if I so much as breathed a word about what he was doing to anyone. As for coming to you…he-he promised to hurt me as well, should that happen."

Silence greeted his statement. The Maia's shoulders slumped in defeat as he resigned himself to whatever might happen next, even as the tears continued to fall. Above his head, the Valar held a silent and rapid conversation.

Out of all the explanations they'd expected the Maia to give for his actions, this hadn't been one of them.

*So, it appears he was coerced into it as well, except the leverage to ensure his compliance was someone else.*

Aulë looked very troubled, thinking of the similarities in situations between Nityatinwë and Sámotára. All the Valar were troubled by this revelation; it complicated matters no end. Looking over at Námo, Manwë finally spoke.

*I know you are probably going to roast me for this attitude, but part of this is my fault this time. Sámotára served me for a very long time, and I know I wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person. Him feeling we couldn't protect him from Nehtartúra is my fault. No Maia should doubt his chosen lord or lady, yet I managed to let all of mine down simultaneously in spectacular fashion.*

Námo's blank expression did not shift.

*You certainly had a hand in this, but you can feel guilty later. Right now, we have a very difficult situation on our hands. We need everyone to be totally focused on that right now, and not drowning in feelings of self-guilt and blame. There will be plenty of time for that later.*

The other Valar all were wide-eyed at hearing Námo say so much at once. He'd never spoken so much in one go at any council they'd ever held. Recovering himself, Manwë spoke.

*You are right. The question of What We Are To Do About This remains. And I have no answers for any of it.*

Varda spoke up.

*I do. For a start, I think we can all agree taking him away from Irmo is the wrong thing to do. If anything, he needs to spend even more time around him, in order to start learning to trust his lord. Irmo, what do you think on this matter? Sámotára is yours.*

The Vala of Dreams nodded.

*I know. And I'm very upset about all this happening under my nose without my knowledge. I should have noticed, but I thought Sámotára was doing better, and so haven't been spending as much time with him as he obviously needs. I – my judgement might need recalibrating.*

Nienna rolled her eyes.

*Rot. You've simply been busy lately with all that has happened. We all have, and, despite what the Children think, we can't be everyone at once. That is what our Maiar are for. However, when the issue involves one of them…*

The Valië sighed heavily, tears staining her cheeks.

*It's not always reported to us. I know we should know our Maiar well enough to know if something isn't right, but in practice, that often doesn't happen. I know I am sometimes guilty of these things.*

Nienna fell silent, not knowing what else to say. More than a few of the other Valar also looked slightly guilty at her words, knowing themselves to not been as perfect as they liked to pretend they were. Finally, Vairë spoke.

*The only one who can claim that honour is Námo. He knows if one of his children so much as sneezes.*

Everyone turned to look at Námo at Vairë's words. Suddenly finding himself the centre of undivided attention, the Doomsman looked vaguely uncomfortable. Not taking her eyes off of him, Yavanna spoke.

*How do you do it?*

Námo's expression remained blank.

*I have less Maiar then all of you, except perhaps Tulkas, and live in very close quarters with them. I have also put a lot of work into always looking after them, and making sure they know they can come to me about anything at any time. Looking after the fëar isn't an easy task, and I am always available should they need help with anything. I have had to be. Their well-being and happiness is very important to me.*

The Doomsman fell silent after his little speech, and no one else know quite what to say in response. Manwë, remembering a time, long ago, when Námo had seen the lack of Maiar in his service when compared to everyone else as a sign of his failings, looked thoughtful. Eventually, Irmo broke the silence.

*Well, what are we going to do? This conversation is fascinating, but it is not fair on Sámotára to keep him waiting any longer. We need to sort this out.*

Manwë nodded.

*Yes. And I agree leaving him with you is the best thing to do. I think imposing similar restrictions on him as we did for Nityatinwë will work, but what does everyone else think? I – don't exactly trust my judgment anymore.*

Irmo immediately spoke.

*Thank you, Manwë. I can help him sort out his feelings and thoughts about what has happened, though we are going to also be having some very long talks about some very interesting things in the near future. And I think I will also Lanyamaur to be with him full-time for a while.*

Manwë nodded.

*That's your decision to make. I trust you will do better by Sámotára then I did.* The Vala sighed. *But back to the matter at hand. Does anyone else object to this sentence?*

No one did, though Varda's suggestion that Sámotára be confined to a specific area in Lórien while he spent time in 'therapy' was agreed to be a good idea. Knowing where he was at all times would make monitoring him easier.

Not that anything about this was easy.

That settled, Doomsman stood to pronounce sentence to Sámotára. The Maia was still looking at the ground and trembling; Námo's voice held a thread of gentleness as he spoke.

"Sámotára. Due to your actions in aiding Nehtartúra in hurting those under our protection and rebelling against our authority, certain restrictions are to be placed on you. As your actions were not totally voluntary, you are to remain under Lord Irmo's authority in Lórien, but will have restricted freedoms, and be constantly monitored by either your lord, or his Chief Maia, until he is satisfied you are no longer a threat. Due to your present state of mind, Lord Irmo will work closely with you to help you during this time. However, do not forget this is a punishment. If you ever seek to do what you did to land you here again, know next time we will not be so lenient."

The steel was back in Námo's voice, and Sámotára visibly gulped before nodding.

"I-I u-understand. Th-thank you, L-Lord."

Without another word, Námo sat down, fighting the urge to rub his throbbing forehead. He did not know why his head was hurting so much (it was almost like he had a 'headache' or 'migraine' as the mortals called similar conditions, which was confusing. The Valar did not usually suffer those afflictions, even when in fanar. Though they were all vulnerable to physical and mental exhaustion). Closing his eyes and taking a slow deep breath in, Námo tried to relax his head and neck muscles, hoping easing the tension in his body would help.

It didn't.

It was disconcerting.

However, even more disconcerting for Námo, was the fact this 'headache/migraine' had come out of nowhere, all but slamming into him while he was pronouncing Sámotára's sentence.

Námo mentally frowned as he observed Irmo and Estë leaving their thrones and going over to help Sámotára to his feet. The reason for the frown…his head had stopped pounding for a brief moment when the Maia moved, only to start again in full force as soon as he stood up. Hardly about to think through the pain now, it was so bad, the Vala closed his eyes and struggled to even remember where Mandos was, let along think himself back there.

His attention drawn by the uncharacteristically concerned and pained air coming off the Doomsman, Manwë gave Námo a piercing look as he mentally reached out.

*Námo. What is wrong?*

Instead of answering his leader, Námo turned to his brother. Focusing as best he could through the pounding, he spoke softly to him.

*Irmo…keep a close watch on Sámotára. There is a disturbance about his spirit that is not quite right. It may turn out to be nothing, but –*

Námo looked at them both with a masked expression.

*Just keep an eye on him. We don't want any more nasty surprises.*

Casting a quick glance at his Maia and then Námo's grim air, Irmo swallowed, before nodding.

*I can't detect anything amiss, but I will keep a very close eye on him, my brother. Only those whom are stupid or conceited ignore your warnings. Can you give me more information?*

Námo frowned.

*No. I just feel that something isn't quite right with him. Hopefully it's nothing. But –*

Námo trailed off, and Manwë or Irmo knew not to push the matter further. However, Manwë was more troubled by this news then he let on. Making a mental note to have a more private talk with Námo later about exactly what he'd detected in the Maia, Manwë dismissed everyone before making a hasty retreat. Varda was already gone, and the King of the Valar smiled excitedly to himself as he followed.

He was late to a date.

"I have to go!"

Mairon all but leapt away from the bench where he was working, causing Urunírë to almost hammer his own hand, he got such a shock. They were both in the forges, working on little projects. This was the first time Aulë's former chief had been back since going to live in Mandos, and Urunírë had only decided to do it because he knew Aulë wouldn't be there. Despite having spoken to the Smith since his trial, the Maia didn't feel up to facing him in the forges just yet.

"Why? What's the rush?"

Mairon looked at Urunírë with unbridled panic.

"Námo is hurt. I must get back to Mandos now!"

Urunírë felt horror enter him at hearing that, but nodded instantly.

"Ok. I'll take you back."