Chapter 2 - Teti takes the case
The next morning found us at the guardhouse near the outer wall of the palace.
"I hope I do not create too much trouble for Kulbâth, involving the king's men like this," Teti sighed as we arrived, "but I suppose this is not the sort of thing we can keep to ourselves."
We were quickly let inside. Teti's help had been enlisted many times in the past, and he is well known among the city guard. Our old friend Rûkhnar greeted is. He was a large man, with a ruddy face and a loud voice.
"Teti! Abrazîr! What brings you here? Usually it's us seeking you out."
"I need to speak with the elf arrested the night before last," Teti replied.
Rûkhnar sighed, "Well I'm sorry if you've come all this way for nothing, but I'm not sure that will be possible, with the poisoning and all."
"With all Teti had done for you in the past, surely you can arrange this," I protested. "What harm could it do for us to see him?"
"Oh, well of course you can see him," Rûkhnar replied. "I just don't know if he'll be in any state to speak with you. He was barely conscious last I saw him, and certainly not lucid enough for a conversation. But I've heard word that he's recovering. Remarkable, I'd say. The doctor thought he was a goner for sure."
"Wait, what has happened to him?" Teti asked.
Rûkhnar looked puzzled. "As I said, he was poisoned. Didn't you know that? Goodness me, do we know something you don't for once?"
"The paper said he was a suspect, not the victim," Teti explained.
"Oh yes, it's pretty clear he's the one that did it," Rûkhnar replied.
"He's suspected of poisoning himself?" I asked. "That hardly seems a matter for the law."
"Well obviously it didn't work out how he'd planned," Rûkhnar declared, exasperated. "He tried to slip the poison into the king's drink, but old Zigûr saw him do it. Zigûr is the king's chief advisor, if you didn't know."
"We are familiar with Zigûr in Harad," Teti replied darkly. "Though in the east, he is better known as Sauron."
"Well, call him what you will, he saved the king's life. But let's see if Elrond is awake."
Rûkhnar led us through the gate to the palace grounds. I have seen the palace many times, but never so close. The ancient towers reached gracefully into the sky and the nearby sea gleamed behind. I did not have long to admire it, however, as we were quickly led a small guardhouse inside the walls. It was perched on a wide stone slab that had once been the foundation of a large outbuilding. Within was a winding staircase down to the former basement.
Heavy arches and support columns divided the basement into a series of alcoves, separated by thick iron bars. A thin breeze blew in from the stairwell, but otherwise the room was quiet. The many arches seemed to muffle sounds, so much that I could hardly hear my own footsteps. The only light was a small lamp Rûkhnar had brought, which barely seemed to penetrate into the thick, black darkness of the room. It was too dark to see to the far wall, which gave the impression that prison stretched on endlessly. Anything could have been waiting at the end of that room unseen and forgotten, and we would not have known it until we were almost upon it. The thought filled me with dread, and I found it hard to bring myself to follow Rûkhnar deeper in.
Thankfully, we did not need to go far before the circle of the torchlight fell on a a blanket-covered figure on the floor of one of the cells. He stirred at our approach, and his grey eyes looked at us cautiously, but curiously.
"I apologize that I do not stand to greet you," he said weakly, "but I am rather unwell at the moment."
He plainly was unwell too. His long, dark hair hung limply about his tired face, and he seemed to wince at every movement as he turned toward us. Even ill as he was, though, there was an air of authority to him still, as one would expect from the brother of Tar-Minyatur.
I would not have guessed he was an elf, had Teti not told me. He looked much like any nobleman of Númenor. But there was something, perhaps in his eyes, that spoke of lifetimes of experience.
"Not a problem. I will come down to you." Teti replied cheerfully. He sat on the floor and peered at him intently through the bars of the cell. "You are Elrond, yes?"
The elf nodded.
"I am Teti, son of Nebetah, and this is my associate, Abrazîr, son of Abrazân. I am a private investigator here on behalf of a client."
"Well, this is more effort than I expected from him, but I imagine appearances must be maintained." Elrond replied. A long white arm speckled with a strange, red-violet rash emerged from beneath the blanket and he weakly pushed himself up into a sitting position against the stone wall.
Teti eyed the rash curiously, seeming to see something deeply important in it. "I think you misunderstand; my client is Kulbâth of Shepherd's Inn. She wonders how you would like to pay your bill."
There was a moment of stunned silence, then Elrond laughed. "I did not realize the debt collectors here were so efficient. Well, at least in this I am actually guilty. Please offer my apologies to the innkeeper for my tardiness." He turned to Rûkhnar. "There should be a small purse among the things that were taken from me. Please pay them from that."
"This is highly unusual," Rûkhnar protested.
"It is indeed, but it must have taken these men considerable effort to find me, I would not have it be for naught," Elrond replied. "But first, Teti, you said you are a private investigator. Are you accepting new clients? I find myself in a precarious situation. I am told that Sauron is leading the investigation against me, and, especially as I believe he is the one who poisoned me, he is hardly unbiased. I would be grateful if you could look into the matter as well."
Teti paused for a long while considering. Then he looked at the strange rash again and sighed. "Please tell me what has happened."
"Recent tensions between Ar-Pharazôn and Gil-Galad have been difficult for me, having close ties to both kingdoms. Though Gil-Galad swore to never again allow any of his people to come to this land after what was done to his last emissaries, he offered to release me from his service to allow me to join my kin here. It was a difficult choice, but I accepted.
I arrived here in Arminalêth three days ago on March 30. I spent the night in the inn, as you know, then went to the palace."
"How was that received?" Teti asked.
"It was tense," Elrond admitted "Sauron was highly opposed to my being there, as I expected. The king, too, was initially opposed, having no love for elves, but I took an oath of fealty and that seemed to soften him."
He continued, "I was invited to the spring feast, which went rather well until the end of the evening. The queen retired early, and the king asked me to pour his wine in her stead. As I understand it, this task usually fell to Sauron, though if he did not seem too insulted to be replaced. I wondered at that at the time, though it now seems clear why. But I am skipping ahead.
"I poured the cup and offered it to the king. Immediately, Sauron leapt to his feet.
"'Assassin!' he accused. 'What did you put in that cup?'
"'Wine,' I answered.
"'Do not play the fool. I saw you slip something else into the cup,' he growled."
"The wine, was it a fresh bottle?" Teti interjected.
"Yes, I opened the bottle myself before pouring." Elrond replied. "I do not suppose that is a point in my favor, but it is the truth."
He continued, "Sauron asked me to drink from the cup to show it had not been poisoned. I was rather angry at this point and eager to show how ridiculous the accusation was, so I did. As I lowered the glass though, and saw Sauron's face, I realized my mistake. He had such a look of surprise and amusement. At that moment I realized: that I had not poisoned the wine did not mean the wine was not poisoned.
"My suspicion was confirmed almost immediately when the symptoms began. My vision blurred and my body ached and grew weak, so weak that at times it took all my strength just to keep breathing. At some point, this rash you see developed, though I could not tell you when precisely."
"It was a little over an hour after we brought him in," Rûkhnar said.
"Thank you," Elrond replied. "My recollections after that point are extremely limited; I do not even recall being brought here."
"Did you notice anything unusual about the wine while drinking it?" Teti asked.
"It was perhaps a bit drier than I expected, but I am not familiar with the particular wine. It was a vintage the king is especially fond of, and he does not typically share it."
"Yes, that makes sense," Teti mused. "Well, I do not know if I can help you, but I will look into the matter."
"Thank you," said Elrond. "Even that is far beyond what I could have hoped for."
As we emerged from the oppressive darkness I turned to Teti. "I thought you were not interested in this case."
"Well perhaps I am overly sentimental, but I cannot stand to see someone falsely accused."
"You cannot think he is innocent?" Rûkhnar exclaimed. "He did not tell you, but Sauron was not sitting close enough to him to have put anything in the cup. No one else could have poisoned it but Elrond."
"Ah, but you see, the wine was not poisoned in the cup, but in the bottle," Teti countered. "Am I correct in guessing you have not identified the poison?"
"We didn't think it was relevant."
"Well, I am familiar with it and I tell you it is extremely relevant." Teti replied. "It is a plant from my own land that we call - well, in this land it is called poxbark. It has a mildly bitter taste, and is highly toxic. It also produces a distinctive rash, even at small doses. It is typically used when one wants to make it clear the victim was poisoned to make a statement of some sort. Of note to this case is that the poison does not dissolve, rather it - what is the best word - steeps, perhaps? Leeches out? The powder floats upon initial introduction to the liquid, wine in this case. After two days, it settles to the bottom of the container, and it takes around a week to reach full strength. So you see, the poison could not have been placed in the glass that evening."
"That's assuming it's the poison you say it is," Rûkhnar countered. "There's lots of poisons out there. You don't know them all."
"You are quite right, but I would still look into it further. Please show me the wine cellar."
"Now hold up, you can't just go traipsing about the palace willy-nilly. There's security to be considered, and decorum too."
"And that's more important than a man's life?"
"He isn't a man."
"Well the king is," I interjected, "and someone tried to poison him. Wouldn't you like to be sure you know who?"
Rûkhnar did not seem to have considered this. "Hmm, well, I suppose I could speak to a few people. But it will take some time."
I heard no more of the case for a few weeks, and truthfully I largely forgot about it. Despite Teti's suspicions, the case seemed relatively straightforward to me, and I had little doubt that Elrond had been responsible. So I thought little of it when I returned from my morning constitutional to find Teti reading a letter. In fact, I was rather distracted. A group of children had been playing jump rope, and I now feared the ridiculous, infectious rhyme they had been chanting would be running through my mind for the rest of the day.
"No more fish!" the old king calls.
Fish are stinky, guard the walls.
But what's this? Silly prince,
How'd that fish get in my halls?
Thankfully, my thoughts were interrupted by a question from Teti.
"Tell me, what is your opinion of the king and his court?"
"That of any loyal Númenorian," I answered, feeling a bit insulted at having such a thing questioned.
"Yes, yes, I'm sure. But specifically, what do you think?"
"I think the king is a strong leader who inspires those around him to greatness. But," I hesitated, "I wish he would not throw away our friendship with the elves so lightly. And no one who has spent as much time in Harad as I have could be comfortable with his trust in Zigûr."
"There are rumors that he married his wife against her will."
"Baseless gossip, I'm sure," I replied. "Though it is true that by tradition she has a stronger claim to the throne than he. Why do you ask?"
"I simply wish to know what we are getting ourselves into," he said as he showed me the letter he had been reading.
"That is the royal seal!" I gasped.
"Yes, it appears Rûkhnar had gotten the attention of someone high up. Sauron himself - or Zigûr as I believe he prefers, and it would be wise to not offend him - says we are to call this afternoon to discuss my investigation."
