Chapter 100

In the end there were no more tears to shed and strong but gentle hands parted me from Idhrethil and laid her out on the turf, covering her with her cloak. "We must bury the dead here for we cannot tarry in the wild lands, these hills are crawling with yrch. Come with us now and say the words of departure for her". The speaker was a rider of Arthedain, his face full of concern and pity, and two of his fellows carefully lifted her body and carried it away from the scene of the brief battle to where a shallow pit had been hastily dug under the eaves of the forest. A number of the fallen had already been laid out carefully in it, including several of the riders, for our rescue had not been achieved without cost. The survivors of our own party and a good number of the riders were gathered around, and as I approached Elien and Thanguron came to meet me. Their faces were marked with grief, eyes red from weeping like my own, and we greeted each with heartfelt embraces. "I too mourn the loss of Lady Idhrethil" said Thanguron "for she was always courteous and kind to me, and had a genuine love for the songs I sang. She was grave and beautiful, a rose among so many bright and inconsequential daisies in the citadel". Then Elien spoke, her grey eyes brimming with further tears. "And I have lost the best and truest friend anyone could wish for, for she was wise and gentle and always spoke the truth even when I did not wish to hear it. I can never repay the debt I owe her, and my heart is broken". I could not find words to answer them, and we stood together in silence, remembering. For mine was not the only grievous loss that had been suffered that day, many of Thanguron's men had perished in the fight, brave youths that both he and Elien had known well for many years.

When all was prepared the captain of the horsemen came forward to begin the burial ceremony. I knew him at once, for it was none other than Amdir, who had intercepted our embassy on the road to Amon Sul and escorted us to the he recognised me he came over and greeted me solemnly. "Hail Esteldir of Northford, we meet again, and I wish it could have been in better circumstances. I salute your courage and that of your companions, let us now bury our dead together with honour". I thanked him and stood at his side as he said the words of departure for his men, and for those others who had travelled with us and had none there to speak for them. Then Thanguron performed the same duty for his soldiers, and finally it was my turn. TrembIing, I stood over the grave with Elien close at hand and commended the life of Idhrethil to Eru and Mandos. "A long and difficult road we travelled together, full of grief and many partings, but ever was our love constant, and ever did we live in hope that we might one day be united at last. That hope was realised for just a short while, and at least we were together at the end. But now the light has been extinguished, and I vow that I will spend whatever time remains to me seeking vengeance for her death. Hear me now!" There was a murmur of assent from those around me and I picked up a handful of soil and tossed it into the grave, before turning away, blinded again by tears. Elien followed and then came to my side and made our away back towards the road together in silence. When all the other mourners had said their final farewells soldiers carrying with shovels came forward from where they had been waiting under the shelter of the trees and set to filling the grave back in. So that quiet place some seven leagues along the road west of Lastbridge, under the eaves of some nameless wood is where my love now lies until the world is changed, and there has not been a day since that I have not thought of her and longed to be with her once again.

Shortly afterwards a detachment of riders came back along the road from the east and reported that they had ridden to within sight of the west gate of the city and that it was now closed, and that they had found no further travellers on the road. Conscious of the danger facing even a large well armed company in the wild with the forests apparently teeming with orcs Amdir ordered his men to ready themselves at once for departure. Spare horses were brought up, and any who wished to ride were offered mounts, though Thanguron and some of the others declined, preferring to continue the journey on foot. Elien and I both accepted however, though I wondered whether I had chosen well and almost had a change of heart when I was presented with my mount, a tall and apparently fiery chestnut horse who had lost his rider. However once aboard I found him to be obedient and willing to do my bidding and I soon forgot my initial misgivings. After the column began to move off we fell in beside Elien, who was clearly an accomplished rider, and had no such trouble with her own mount. In the miserable hours that followed her company was a boon to me, as I think mine must have been to her. Without her by my side in the days that followed I think I would soon have fallen into black despair and sought an ending, but the grief we shared gave us common cause and a reason to continue. I owed her a debt I could never repay for what she had done for Idhrethil and I, and we were all that remained to each other of our former lives.

Here and there along the road we saw other fresh graves, more signs of the enemy's cruel handiwork, for the orcs had clearly exacted a heavy toll on those who had fled westward from Lastbridge. Just before we halted for the night we passed through the scene of another fight between the horsemen and the enemy, for the corpses of many orcs in the familiar livery of Angmar lay strewn on the ground alongside the road. A little further on, with the sun beginning to set in the west we came upon a second company of horsemen setting up camp for the night on a broad meadow. Nearby a stream passed under a small stone bridge under the road, and the edge of the forest was distant enough in that place to forestall a surprise attack from the cover it provided. They too had gathered a considerable number of travellers from Rhudar with them, and we saw them watch with interest as we approached. The column came to a halt and we dismounted, and I was grateful, for I was unaccustomed to riding and was sore and weary. Following the cue of the other riders we removed the saddles and harness from our mounts and led them to where picket lines had been set up near the stream. Here they were watered and allowed to graze while we too were given food and drink and settled down for another night under the stars.

Our rations were good, much better than I was used to, but I had little appetite for them. I sat with Elien and Thanguron and his men and we ate in silence, but after we had finished Elien spoke to us, her tone surprisingly diffident. "Brave men of Rhudaur, we have all endured much and suffered great pain and loss together, but perhaps in a few days time, if fate wills it, we will all have the chance to begin a new life in Arthedain. I wish to ask a boon of you all, though I have no reason to expect you to bend to my will in this matter. It is this: few others who have made the journey westward with us are likely to recognise me or know who I truly am, or was. I pray that you do not name me as princess, or even the queen I was for a short while, but simply say if it is asked of you that I am a woman of good birth and no more. I wish to leave my old life and all its faults behind me and begin afresh and I pray that you will aid me in this". Thanguron was the first to answer. "Lady Elien, for the love all here bear you I think I speak for all when I say that we will aid you in this matter without reservation". There was a murmur of agreement, and one of the men spoke up asking "my lady, what do you hope to do?" She replied, her tone growing sterner again. "I too thirst for vengeance against the foe that has taken so many and much from us, but it is not the lot of womankind to bear arms and do great deeds in battle. Instead, if I may, I will enter service in a house of healing and learn what I can of leechcraft so that I may give succour to the wounded and dying. Thus I too will be avenged". With that she drew the dagger she carried at her waist and in one swift movement cut off the long plait that had bound her golden tresses, and the shortened hair that remained fell untidily about her face. Thanguron gasped in dismay as she tossed the plait aside, but she laughed. "Nay, I have no more need of it, from now on my life will be filled with hardship and suffering and duty". I do not think I can have been the only one there who thought, even in the depths of sadness and loss, that she had lost nothing of her grace and beauty by the deed.

Later that evening, and at our own insistence the soldiers among us joined the watch on the camp that night, standing ready beside the horsemen of Arthedain in the dark, but the orcs did not trouble us again. I had drawn one of the earlier watches but the moon was already riding high in the heavens by the time I returned to our resting place and woke my replacement. Elien was still awake, and whispered my name softly in the dark, and I went over to her. "I am frightened and alone and far from home, will you lie with me this night and hold me to you?" she asked plaintively. We wrapped our cloaks around us and lay together as brother and sister, our tears mingling at first before we were eventually overcome by weariness. Yet in the morning I saw something in Thanguron's expression when he saw us together that troubled me, and I realised that he greatly loved and desired his former mistress.