Unable to sleep, Giminzil goes against the king's edict and goes to see the White Tree in secret.
GIMINZIL tossed, woken by dreams she could not remember.
The silver moonlight filled her chamber, bathing everything in pale gray.
She got out of her bed and picked up a small jewelry box. The silver fruit of Nimloth sat nestled among the blue silk. She had coveted one of them the moment she saw them, but she had been torn when Lord Zigur asked what she wanted. And she really did not mean to takel one. But after she ran out of Zigur's chambers, she found the silver fruit nestled among her headscarf.
Another of what she had loved in this world was disappearing. To think that she will never see the White Tree again. The pain she had felt at the sudden loss of her mother cut a painful path through her heart.
Giminzil clutched the fruit to her heart. The longing for her mother crashed into her like ocean waves. Grabbing a woolen shawl by her bed to wrap it over her head and shoulders, Giminzil left her bedchamber with a glow stone in her hand to light the way.
Her nurse, Zoreth, slept on a small bed just outside Giminzil's bedroom door. Zoreth slept like a deaf dragon, snoring loudly. But Daira was sharp eared.
Giminzil glanced at the fireplace where her maid slept on a small bedroll next to the hearth.
The bedroll was empty. It was rather late for her maid to be running about, but it was not the first time for Daira to be missing.
With everyone gone with the king and the queen, there was no one she had to mind once she left her own chamber, but Giminzil looked about her before entering the common room she shared with the other ladies-in-waiting. When she saw no one about, Giminzil stepped into a narrow passage hidden behind a large painting of the former Queen Inzilbeth, the current queen's grandmother.
According to Queen Miriel, it was one place in the palace the king did not know.
Only the ruling sovereign knew the entire layout of these secret passages which were built into the King's House. According to Giminzil's mother, when a king prepares to cede the throne to his heir, he would pass many secrets known only to the new sovereign, among them the layout of these passages.
The queen was the true heir to the throne and the secrets of the passages had passed to her and not to Ar-Pharazon, her husband and their current ruling king. That Giminzil's mother knew of it showed how much the queen trusted her. But her mother's knowledge of these passages was limited to the ones she used to visit the queen in secret and to the chamber by the courtyard where Nimloth the White Tree grew.
Giminzil wondered why Lord Zigur thought it important to place overnight guards by the tree. Everyone knew the king forbade people from approaching the tree. Even if it was not forbidden, no one cared about the tree these days.
It was one of the many things she wondered about, but knew enough not to question. Perhaps even thinking about it was wrong.
The narrow passage ran behind the walls, splitting into right and left passages. The right turn would take her to the passage behind the queen's sitting room. The left turn gave access to one of the sealed balconies built over the shoulders of the two statutes. According to her mother, they were for the kings and the queens to enjoy the beauty of Nimloth. But with time, they fell out of use. And during the reign of Ar-Adunakhor, almost four centuries ago, access to these balconies was sealed and their uses forgotten.
The fact that Ar-Gimilzor, the queen's grandfather, allowed his wife, Queen Inzilbeth, to use this forgotten chamber in private was a testament to his love for his wife despite his harsh policies against the Elves and the minority of people known as the 'Faithful' who clung to the ancient traditions taught by the Elves.
Giminzil always wondered why Tar-Palantir, the queen's father, never opened these closed chambers during his reign. He was a known sympathizer of those rebels. He could have unsealed the balconies again, but he never did.
Under the faint light of the glow stone, Giminzil found the hidden knob her mother had shown her which opened the door into the sealed balcony. What had once been an open structure was now a sealed chamber behind elaborate stone arches decorated with delicate traceries. Above the arch, a large circular opening allowed moonlight to illuminate the small chamber.
Avoiding the moonlit areas, Giminzil approached the ornamental openings behind the statue through which she could see the courtyard below.
As she did so, the bell at the Tower of Elros rang, signaling midnight.
There were only two guards below her at the courtyard, one at each gate leading to the courtyard on each side of the statutes. When the sound of the last bell subsided, one of the guards moved over to the guard on the other side.
"Where are they?"
The other guard shrugged. They looked back at the open gate behind them.
"It's getting rather chilly," one of them said, rubbing at his arms. "I could use some warm ale right about now."
Keeping her wary eyes on them, Giminzil leaned onto the stone banister, hoping to catch the fragrance of the tree. On summer nights, Nimloth bore white blooms, filling the entire palace with its fragrant lilac and rosemary scent. But it was late autumn. Only the sparse silver leaves that had not fallen yet clung to the last remnant of the moonbeam in the courtyard.
"You two, come and get some wine," a third guard walked in from the open gate.
"Where's your partner? Aren't you going to relieve us?"
"Yes, yes. After a sip. Come join us. The captain wouldn't be making his rounds until just before dawn."
"We shouldn't be drinking," other guards said.
"What harm is there? Is the tree going to run away, or a rebel comes to steal it over that cliff?" the guard pointed to the far side of the courtyard. "By the Holy Mountain, if he can carry the tree, I would let him take it."
"But, Lord Zigur said—"
"His lordship is not here and us drinking a few sips is not going to affect anything."
"I suppose one cupful wouldn't hurt. Where did you get the wine?" The two guards followed the new guard into the gate.
"Some slave woman was roaming around with it…" The sound of their voices died down into a murmur and only the rustle of leaves filled the courtyard.
Giminzil glanced at the stone balcony built over the cliff when she noticed a shadow.
At first, it was just a movement caught in her vision. Then, it was a shape of a man donned all in black. He climbed over the balcony, then brought up a rope. For a long time, he hid among the bushes in the flowerbeds lining the wall.
Giminzil glanced at the gate where she could hear the faint laughter of the guards.
She turned to the flowerbeds. Slowly, the man scooted down, staying in the shadows. Had she not been looking down at the courtyard, she would not have known he was there.
Keeping close to the ground, the man moved over to the base of the White Tree, then looked up.
The moonbeam bounced off the silver of the tree limbs and they glowed white under the moonlight.
Giminzil realized she was holding her breath as the man who had scanned each branch bent low and pawed the ground. She realized what he was looking for. He was looking for the fruit of the tree.
For a moment, Giminzil was torn. Should she alert the guards? What the man was doing went against the King's law. But then, so was she. How would she explain her presence to the guards? Calling the guards meant revealing the existence of the secret chamber. She may never get further opportunities to use the chamber again.
Her heart pounded. Giminzil glanced at the gate again. One of the guards came out of the gate.
"I'm going to look around," the guard who had worried about Lord Zigurd said.
With her hands on her mouth, she looked toward the man by the tree. The man shrank into the bushes when the guard passed.
Leave now. While the guards are not looking, silently Giminzil prayed.
But the man returned to where the tree stood as soon as the guard passed him. He was pawing the ground again.
Giminzil wished she could tell the man that there were no more fruits of Nimloth. Then she caught herself. The man was probably a rebel, one who didn't believe in the king and his laws. She was supposed to be a model for other youths of the land as one of the children of the Council of Sceptre.
I'll just go down to the courtyard and alert the guards, Giminzil told herself when she saw the guard who had passed the tree and into the other gate returned.
"Who goes there!"
In one smooth motion, the man got up and lunged. Something flashed in his hand.
"No!" A scream tore through her lips when she saw the guard fall.
Giminzil's scream rent the silence. The three guards from beyond the gate rushed into the courtyard and saw the man as he dragged the body to the bushes. The guards surrounded the man with their weapons drawn.
But the man was skilled with his sword. His sword flashed and shone with deadly precision in the light of the moon, and two more guards fell. But the intruder wasn't quick enough.
"Intruder! Rise! Rise!" shouted the last guard and blew his horn before the man reached him. As the last guard fell, a warning bell rang through the palace.
The man looked up. He twirled something in the air and sent it straight to the circular opening in the balcony. Then, as Giminzil watched stunned, he ran, then leaped into the air, climbing up the body of the statute, and jumped down from the circular opening onto the floor of the secret chamber.
When the dark figure of the man stood up, Giminzil, who had been frozen where she stood, screamed.
She scrambled to get out of the hidden chamber. All the alarm bells were ringing now, and among the din of the clanking of the bells, the floor of the room trembled as the silence of the night shattered.
"Intruder! Guards! Guards!"
A shout erupted from all quarters.
Forgetting the secret nature of the chamber, Giminzil banged on the stone walls of the chamber and opened her mouth to cry out for help when a powerful hand pulled her away from the wall.
Fear knotted her body as the man's hand pressed firmly over her mouth, his other arm drawing her tight against him. His strength was such that she could not move within his arm.
"Quiet!" the man hissed. "Stay quiet, and I won't hurt you. I give you my word."
Giminzil's heart boomed as the shout of the guards passed the wall of the secret chamber. The man pulled her against the shadow of the wall and looked out of the opening behind the statue. She tried to move, but his arms drew her more tightly to him. Pulling at the man's hand, Giminzil looked down at the scene before her.
Courtyard was lit like daylight and guards swarmed the area.
"Couldn't have gone too far. Search everywhere. Close all the gates. Alert the guards at the ramparts!" the one Giminzil knew as the captain of the Palace Guards shouted orders.
The fallen guards were groaning as they were carried out. Guards turned over every flower and every bush. But there were few places a person could hide in the garden. It was apparent that the guards did not know the existence of the sealed balconies on the shoulders of the statutes. After searching all the flowerbeds, the guards moved out, spreading out to the other sections of the palace.
As soon as the sound of the guards faded away, the man slackened his hold over her.
"Promise me you will not scream, and I will let go," the man whispered.
Giminzil looked up at the man. She was among the tallest of the ladies at court, but this man stood easily a head taller than her. Covered with dark clothes, she could not make out much of his face except his eyes which glinted like blades under the moonlight.
"Promise me," the man hissed.
Giminzil nodded.
The man's hand over her mouth loosened, and he let her go. Slowly.
The man took a step back from her. Giminzil bolted toward the door. He grasped at her head, snatching the shawl off her.
Her hair flew all around. Giminzil clutched at her hair, more out of instinct than anything else. Her hair glowed in the moonlight, glinting faintly in the semi-darkness.
Giminzil grabbed the door and yanked it open, but the man shut it close with a bang.
"Silmë, please!"
Giminzil gasped as she turned around to face him. No one used her Elven name except her mother and brother.
"What did you call me?"
The pale gleam of the moonlight shone through the circular opening above and the entire room was submerged in the silver glow. The man put away his sword and pulled away the dark scarf he had used to cover his face and mouth.
Giminzil blinked. She knew that face.
Although the room was too dark for her to see the color of his eyes, she remembered them to be clear and deep gray like the winter sea.
She had seen him only once. Six years ago. But she had never forgotten him. He, alone of all others, had told her that her hair was beautiful.
"Please, Silmë. Don't call the guards. For my sake, for your sake, and for the sake of others."
Behind the wall, she heard a clink clank of metal armor.
"I thought I heard something," someone said.
"Are you sure? We just passed here. I didn't see anything," another man said.
Giminzil knew she just needed to call out one more time. Her heart pounded like the hooves of the running horses.
"Let's go. There's nothing here. We better find the culprit before Lord Zigur returns or we will be in a lot of trouble."
"Let's hope they used Lord Zigur's knife to fight the bastard. Then it would be easy to find him."
The guards walked away.
The man in the black took in a quick breath, then leaned against the wall behind him.
"You… you are that man from Romenna." Giminzil's heart thumped again, but not out of fear.
The man smiled, his teeth flashing pearlescent under the moonlight. "You remember me."
"You saved me. Of course, I remember you."
She had never forgotten him. Six years ago, her brother left for another voyage to the Great Lands. Giminzil had gone to Romenna to place Oiolaire, the Green Bough of Return, on her brother's ship, as was the custom.
She had turned twenty-five years old, her coming of age. But it was a tough year for her family as her mother who had an unfortunate accident passed away from her injury. Giminzil had gone down to the beach without an escort when her headscarf blew away. There were some angry people who thought she was an Elf. She had been surrounded by the angry mob and terrified, but the man had shown up unlooked for, broke up the crowd, and had taken her back to her brother.
Now that she thought about it, her brother had seemed to know the man, but she had been too terrified by the incident to question her brother about him. And before she knew it, her brother had left Anadûnê.
"You know my brother?" Otherwise, how did he know her name that only her mother and brother used? "And why are you here at the courtyard which is forbidden?"
Instead of answering, the man hissed. He pulled open the long jacket he wore. Giminzil gasped. The shirt he wore under the jacket was wet.
"Is… is that blood?" Giminzil's throat clenched as an unfamiliar metallic scent filled the chamber.
It was then that the door to the secret entrance rattled. The man took out his sword, then stood up. He put a finger over his mouth and pulled Giminzil to a wall behind him.
"No one knows this place except the queen," Giminzil whispered, realizing that the man knew exactly where the chamber was located.
The door creaked open slowly. The man tensed, raising his sword for a strike. Giminzil held her breath.
Someone peered over the crack of the open doorway.
"Lord?" a person whispered in a thick accent, opening the door wider.
The man relaxed.
Giminzil could not speak until her handmaid walked into the chamber holding a bundle in her arms.
"Daira? How? Why? Were you following me?" Giminzil asked her maid, stepping forward.
Daira's eyes rounded as she shrank into the door.
"How did you know about this chamber?" Giminzil asked again.
Daira pointed to the man. "Lord."
"You know my maid, and she knows you? What is going on here?" Giminzil looked up at the man. "And how do you know this chamber.? No one knows this room except my mother and the queen."
"I knew the previous queen who had the use of this room," the man said.
"Who?" Giminzil's head hammered. "Were you working with this man, Daira?" Giminzil looked at her maid then at the man.
Her maid was a slave her brother had given her for her coming of age present before he left for the Great Lands. Abrazan had made her promise to take Daira with her when she entered the court. Had her mother lived, and her father's health did not fail, she would have entered the court upon reaching her twenty-fifth birthday just after Abrazan left.
Giminzil had treated the slave like an older sister she never had.
"No, mistress. I just help." Tears fell down on Daira's scarred face, but Giminzil turned away from her maid.
Sudden heat took hold of her as her stomach turned. Giminzil turned to the man as breath stifled and a swirl of something hot filled her heart. Something Daira said this morning flashed across her head.
"How do you know Daira? What is your connection to her? Was she spying for you?" Giminzil turned to Daira. She thought she knew everything about her maid. "Why, Daira? Is that why you knew the schedule of the guards? You were spying for this man?"
Daira's lips trembled as she dropped her head. "No spy. Lord help. I help lord." She looked up at Giminzil as she trembled before her.
"It is not her fault." The man cut in before Daira could say more.
He groaned, then spoke, words coming through clenched teeth. "We asked for her help, and she couldn't refuse. She didn't want to do it. She didn't want to bring you trouble. But if my plan worked, you wouldn't have known about it. And I did not know you would be here tonight or that you even knew this room existed."
"Who are 'we'? Is… is my brother involved in this?" It was the only thing that made sense. But why?
The man met Giminzil's gaze with unwavering calm.
"I will tell you everything if you help me. There is more at stake than it seems."
Giminzil stared up at the man. How could her brother be involved in breaking into the palace? Abrazan was loyal to the king. Her brother had been strongly opposed to the building of the temple. But even after the decision was made, and he was grieved, Abrazan had remained loyal as far as she knew. But if he was involved in penetrating the King's House against the King's law, then was her brother now one of the rebels?
"Will you help me, lady, or doom me? My life and the life of my family and the White Tree that symbolizes this great nation are in your hands."
"Do you even know what you are asking me? Or what trouble you will bring to my family?" Had not the man saved her last time, she would not have even entertained the thought to listen to him. Rebels were traitors. They were not to be trusted.
The man's eyes held hers. "If there was any other way…" the man grimaced and bit down a hiss, grabbing his side. Something dark seeped between his fingers. He groaned again and moved back toward the wall.
As he leaned against the wall, the man's sword slipped off his hand. His injury was not light. Although not a healer, Giminzil could tell by the ghostly white of the man's face. It would be easy to escape him now. But, if she were to report him to the guards, would the man incriminate her brother? Should she betray the man who had helped her in her time of need?
Giminzil clenched her fists.
"Daira, go get Zoreth."
"But…" the maid's eyes widened and filled with fear.
"If you want to see him live, go get her now."
Stretched on the floor of the narrow chamber, the man seemed even bigger than Giminzil thought. Next to Zoreth, no less. Her nurse was a big-boned woman who was as tall as any man. Almost as old as her father, her nurse carried a lot of weight around her middle. Still, she was nimble of hands and feet, despite her age and size.
"He is bleeding a lot. But he is strong. If we could get him to a healer, he'll have a chance," Zoreth said when she was done binding the man's waist.
"But I cannot take him to the infirmary here at the court."
Zoreth looked at the maid. "Daira, go guard the entrance to this passage. Let us know if anyone comes near."
Zoreth waited until Daira left the room, then lowered her voice.
"You'll have to take him to Romenna," the old nurse said as if it was the only way.
"Are you mad, Zoreth?" Giminzil looked at her nurse as if the old woman had lost her mind. She already helped him enough, but Zoreth looked up at her steadily.
Giminzil's nurse had been her mother's maid, and the only one still living who had come from her mother's house when her mother married her father. Giminzil trusted Zoreth as much as she trusted her mother, but her nurse obviously did not know how dangerous getting involved with a rebel was.
"I can't take him to Romenna. He helped me once, and I want to return the favor, but take him all the way to Romenna?"
"We must," Zoreth said. "This young man is Lord Amandil's grandson. Lord Amandil is a distant relation to your mother who helped her many times when she was in need."
"What?" Giminzil rounded her eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Child, I may be old, but I remember the face of every member of the royal family and all the lords of the Council of the Sceptre. This one is the elder of Lord Elendil's two sons. They used to be frequent guests in the court during the time of Tar-Palantir. The queen and Lord Elendil grew up together."
"But why would Lord Amandil's grandson try to sneak into the palace?"
The man groaned again and sat up. "Because I need to obtain the fruit of Nimloth before they destroy the tree."
Zoreth's face turned pale. The nurse shook her head. "Ridiculous. The queen would never allow anyone to harm the tree."
"When did the queen had a say? Why had she said nothing while they built that black temple?" the man's voice was bitter.
Giminzil thought back to what she had heard in the morning.
"There are no more of the fruit. Lord Zigur had all of them picked. He keeps them in his chambers, and his rooms are inaccessible when he is not here."
The man shook his head. "There must be at least one he missed. Perhaps on the ground."
"Lord Zigur is meticulous. He wouldn't have missed any."
The man shook away Zoreth's hand and sat up. "But I need to try. I risked everything. There must be at least one." The man tried to get up.
"You can't. Not in your condition. You'll be lucky to even get out of the palace. Have you not heard the alarm bells?"
"I cannot leave. Not until I have the fruit." There was determination in the man's voice.
The man got up, then swayed. Giminzil took his arm to steady him.
"If you get caught, your whole family will suffer for it. Will that be all right with you?"
The man squeezed his eyes shut, but he sat down again. The look of heavy grief on the man's face tugged at Giminzil's heart. But she had kept the fruit as a memento of her mother. If she gave it away, she was sure that she would never see its kind again.
"How did you even plan to get out of the palace even if you were successful?" Giminzil asked the man. He glanced at the bundle Daiar had brought into the chamber.
"Was she also helping you get away?"
"It was my plan," the man said. "I was supposed to disguise as one of your father's guards, escorting you and him to Romenna."
"You would risk my family in your scheme?"
"No one was supposed to know. I would have just grabbed the fruit and would have gotten down the cliff if it wasn't for the alarm, but in the event I couldn't I had hoped to hide out here, change into your father's guard uniform and help your maid with some of the luggage down to the carriage. We would have left the palace with no one the wiser."
"Well, you certainly cannot do that in your condition." Giminzil frowned down at the man. "And with four guards attacked and injured or dying…"
"I didn't hurt them. I used the back of my sword just to knock them out."
"The bigger question, my lord," Giminzil narrowed her eyes, "is how will you get out of here now? All the guards are aroused. Everyone will be looking for you."
"Leave that to me, child," Zoreth said as she heaved herself up.
Ar-Adunakhor—20th King of Numenor and the first to take his royal name in Adunaic instead of Quenya, the language of the Elves, which was the tradition. His name means 'Lord of the West' which is what people used when referring to Manwe, the king of Valar. Thus, the name was blasphemous and in a direct challenge to Manwe himself.
Queen Inzilbeth—mother of the 24th king, Tar-Palantir. She was a sister (niece, depending on what you read) to 15th Lord of Andunie. She was one of the Faithful, but as she was a great beauty, Ar-Gimilzor (23rd king) married her. Tar-Palantir (the current queen's father) was influenced by his mother and repented the actions of the prior kings who had turned against the Valar and the Elves in pride.
Tar-Palantir—24th king and the father of the current queen (Miriel). He was known to have a prophetic sight.
Oiolaire—fragrant evergreen tree brought by the Elves as a gift to Numenor. It was a custom of the Numenoreans to have a relative of the captain have the bough of the tree hung on the ship leaving the port of Romenna as a good luck