Mairon calls Giminzil for questioning regarding the intruder.
MAIRON twisted the silver stands around his finger. He understood what had happened, but there were still few things he needed to confirm.
"My lord, Lady Giminzil is here." Herumor opened the door to his sitting room.
The young woman glided into the chamber. Her steps were firm, changed from the skittish girl who had ran out of his chambers two weeks ago.
"You asked for me, my lord?" The girl kept her eyes downcast.
She had returned to the palace three days ago. Something about her looked different, but Mairon could not say exactly what.
"Your trip to Romenna was pleasant, I presume?"
"Yes, thank you."
"You met your brother?"
"Yes."
She wasn't going to volunteer any information, it was apparent.
"Will he be joining us here at the palace? I believe His Majesty is expecting him."
"I do not know, my lord." The woman kept her eyes downward, making it hard for Mairon to look into her eyes.
"I heard you didn't bring back your nurse. Why?"
The girl frowned. She hesitated, then said, "She is very old. She was too exhausted for travel, so my father thought it best that she rests at Romenna. May I ask why you asked for me, my lord?"
"Well, as I had to return unexpectedly, I had a chance to look over Her Majesty's Household structure." Mairon pointed to the document on his desk. "You entered the Queen's Household a year later than Lady Dollbeni, but actually you are four years older than her."
"The year I was to enter court, my mother passed away, then my father fell sick. I delayed my entrance to nurse my father."
"Very noble of you. Given that you have known Her Majesty for a long time...I understand you've known her since you were a child?"
The girl nodded, then looked up. There were questions on her gray eyes, but she stayed silent.
"You need not worry, Lady Giminzil. I was looking into you because Her Majesty always wanted you as her Lady of the Bedchamber. And I see why. I think you would fit that position much better than Lady Dollbeni. What do you think? As the Head Lady-in-Waiting, you will be able to order Her Majesty's Household as you see fit. You are an intelligent girl. I am sure it will be to your liking."
The girl's face, which had been tense and somber as a statue, took on a bright shine as if sunlight fell on it. She took in a quick breath and tried to control her excitement, but Mairon could see the flush of heat on her face.
"But, Lady Dollbeni, what will happen to her?"
"She will be reassigned to work in the Temple."
"Why..." She looked as if she wanted to ask more, but she stopped.
Mairon shrugged. "You are loyal to the queen, and she obviously trusts you. And my job is to do what makes both the king and the queen happy. Don't you agree? You seem loyal to the crown and will tell the truth. Will you not?"
"Of course."
"I am glad. You have been a good friend to the queen, and the queen had asked me to give you a present." Mairon took out a small bottle and placed it on the desk in front of the young woman.
The girl looked up again.
"I noticed how you felt about your hair. This will help deepened the color turning your tresses into dark gold. Once it turns into the color you desire, wash it, and it will stay that color forever."
The girl looked at the bottle, her eyes filled with stars. Then a shadow filled them as she looked up. Mairon could see the gears of her mind turning. She was wondering why he was offering her all these. It wasn't the reaction he expected from her. Most girls just accepted, too thrilled to think further than the explanation he had already offered.
"I want you to know, Lady Giminzil, that the Queen thinks highly of you and wants to keep you near her always. I hope you are loyal to her."
"Without doubt, my lord."
"Then, is it correct to assume that you had no part in hiding the intruder when he infiltrated the palace?"
The girl turned rigid for a brief moment before looking up. "The guards were saying it was an assassin. Is it true that the guards on duty were killed?"
Mairon frowned. He had not wanted that known yet, but sometimes words spread faster than he planned.
"Perhaps. Do you know anything about it?
"No. Not really. But, I saw those guards…I mean, the morning we were leaving the palace, I stopped by the infirmary…because I needed some herbs for my headache." The girl's voice trembled. Lying was not easy for her; Mairon could see it clearly.
"How do you know if the guards you saw are the same ones who are dead?"
The girl's face turned dark red as she dropped it.
"Perhaps because you saw them the night the intruder came?" Mairon got up to stand before the young woman who stood there rigid, her hands clutching her red dress.
"The intruder knew the schedule when there would be a change of the guards. He probably had an accomplice in the palace. Did you hear about that?"
"It is the first time hearing it, my lord." The knuckles of her hands turned white. "Why are you asking me?" She held up her head and met his eyes.
Mairon almost admired her courage. Almost.
He shrugged and stepped closer to her. She flinched a step back.
"Your father is Lord of Mittalmar. He should be a model of loyalty among other Men, and as his daughter, you ought to be the same for other young people, don't you think so, Lady Giminzil?" He reminded the young woman one more time.
"Have I done something to make you think otherwise, my lord?" The girl tried to stay calm, but his senses picked up the thick fear that surrounded the young woman like evening fog. He allowed his lips to curve up. His stomach tensed as if he was about to pounce on a prey in front of him.
"When I was told of the intruder and how he suddenly vanished, I got very curious. It seemed obvious to me that the only way someone would have penetrated that part of the palace would be if he was one of the guards or if he climbed the cliff by the central courtyard. I handpicked the guards stationed there. I know each and every one of them. They may slack at times, but they are fiercely loyal to the king. So, that leaves the cliff."
The girl glanced at him from under her lashes, probably wondering where he was going with this. He just wanted her to wonder for a bit. It made the reveal that much sweeter.
"Have you ever been to the balcony by the cliff?"
The girl nodded.
"Did you see how steep it is? It is almost impossible to climb it. And even if one did, one had to have someone drop a rope from the balcony for that person to climb all the way up. Don't you agree?"
"I suppose so."
"But even if he did climb up, where did he go? Not back down the same way. He wouldn't have had time to run down to the lower balcony without being seen once the alarm bells rang through the palace. He was near the tree. So where did he go? What do you think, Lady Giminzil?"
"I...I do not know." The girl fidgeted where she stood.
Sometimes, these humans forgot who they were dealing with. Mairon's senses were beyond those of the normal Men. The guards couldn't find any trace except that the man had went around the White Tree few times. But, his Maiarian eyes, which could see even better than the Elves, had found the scuff marks on the statutes. Looking up at the two round structures on the shoulders of the stone sentinels, he had remembered reading about those balconies.
"Are you aware, lady, that there are another set of balconies on the central courtyard?"
Men forgot things with time, even those things they wrote down, but Mairon did not.
"You won't know it from the courtyard because they are covered with intricate traceries, built on each side of the two statutes. But on the very top, which cannot be seen from the ground, there is a large circular opening, large enough for a grown man to easily jump through."
Giminzil's face paled a shade lighter, but she shook her head.
"No? Well, there are two balconies, unused for some time. Had my guards known about them, they would have found something very interesting. One of the chambers had a fresh blood stains on the floor. As well as a rope, the kind they use at the royal kitchen for tying the supplies. And this." Mairon spread his hand showing several strands of long silver hair.
"I didn't know there were others in Anadûnê who had silver hair. Do you?"
The girl's face was bloodless.
Tears welled in her eyes, but the young woman blinked them away. Once, Mairon may have admired the way she kept herself together. There were very few who could even stand straight in front of him. But, he no longer felt anything for these lesser children of Eru.
"By the way, Lady Giminzil, do you know where your maid is?"
"She…she was called to my father's house… early this morning."
"Or that is what you were told. I have your slave woman, Lady Giminzil." Mairon let that sink in. The girl looked lost, her eyes unbelieving. "She confessed that she helped the intruder."
"What… did you…do to her?"
Mairon could barely hear her now, her voice was shaking so much.
"She confessed that it was a man your brother knew, that he asked her to help him. And that you hid him in your carriage, and your brother came to take him away."
It had been easy to force the truth out of that slave. The woman fought hard to protect her mistress and Abrazan whom she considered her savior. But, in the end, it was not difficult to break her. It was unfortunate that she didn't seem to know exactly who the intruder was, only that it was a man Abrazan knew well, someone who helped her and Abrazan. She only knew him as some young lord. She kept repeating grandson. And a word "Amadee". But that had not made sense. Things would have been easier if she was alive, but the slave did not survive the torture. Not that it would matter. The slave's testimony would not have moved the king.
The young woman closed her eyes. Her chin trembled.
Mairon smoothed his voice. Now that he had built the walls around her, it was a time to give her a way out.
"I had hoped your loyalty to the queen would make you truthful to me. I would like to believe that you were not aiding that intruder. So my previous offers to you still stands." Mairon tapped on the bottle of hair potion to remind Giminzil what she was giving up. "Your slave said you and your brother were not an active participant. I want to believe that. Can I believe that, Lady Giminzil?"
"It's true. I... I was just there to watch the tree. On everything I hold dear, I swear, my lord."
"If that was so, why did you help him? Did Lord Amandil's grandson forced you?"
The girl's face turned rigid. Mairon was taking a wild guess because that was what he wanted to believe and "Amadee" sounded somewhat close to Amandil, but he was certain now. "Perhaps Lord Amandil ordered you and your brother?"
"No." The girl shook her head resolutely. "We did not have any order from anyone."
Mairon knew that the Lord of Andúnië wouldn't have done anything against the King's rule. But Mairon wanted Amandil. He was the leader of the Faithful, the ones Mairon hated the most. But the former chief adviser to the king, the Lord of Andúnië, still commanded respect and love from the people. And Mairon knew that the king still had some weakness for his former friend and was reluctant to touch the Lord of Andúnië. Only the strongest evidence or a testimony from someone the king would trust to be honest would do.
If he had his way, he would have forced his way into Amandil's castle and seized his two grandsons. But without Giminzil to testify against him, Mairon could not establish a firm case against whichever grandson it was. And Mairon could not send guards into Amandil's manor without prior authorization of the king without risking the plan backfiring. He had waited a long time, and he wasn't about to act rashly and ruin it all.
"But, it is true that Lord Amandil's grandson infiltrated the palace?"
The girl clamped up, her face stony.
"Lady Giminzil, you have the Queen's trust. What would the Queen say if she knew you were aiding a known rebel, and you were breaking the King's laws? You have a bright future ahead of you. Do not throw it away for this man. Do you even know him well? A rebel? What is worse, if you do not testify that Amandil's grandson stole into the palace, all the evidence seems to point to your brother."
"But, my brother did not do anything. He only helped."
"Helped Lord Amandil's grandson."
She clamped her mouth again. Mairon felt his patience running thin.
"When the king arrives tomorrow, I will be showing him the evidence, the four dead guards, the poisoned barrel of wine in the king's cellar…"
"What poisoned barrel of wine? I do not know anything about that, my lord. I swear."
"Of course, lady. You need not worry about yourself or your brother if you tell the king and the court what you know, that Amandil's grandson stole into the courtyard, that you saw him when you stopped by to look at the tree. That is all you need to testify. And, I won't mention that your maid assisted him, or that you were in the forbidden chamber to watch the tree, or that you hid the intruder in your carriage, or that your brother was seen at the Center Tavern where your carriage stopped for rest. If these evidences are presented, they incriminate your brother with you as an accomplice."
"My brother did nothing wrong."
"I suppose you do not know that your brother has a history of acting against the king?"
"Abrazan is loyal to the king." The girl was shaking, her face red.
"Perhaps. But your brother has joined the rebels and has been doing things against the king's edict. And there is that little thing with the queen. Do you know about it? It happened while you were still a babe."
The girl shook her head.
"There was a talk of betrothal between the queen and your brother before Ar-Pharazon wed her. It wouldn't be inconceivable for the court or the king to think that your brother held a grudge against His Majesty, especially given all the evidence against him."
"My brother is not like that." The girl's eyes filled with tears and outrage.
"Perhaps. But it is not important what you believe, is it? What is important is what other lords will think, especially what the king will think. But, if you testify that it was Amandil's grandson, and not your brother, then there is no reason for those incriminating evidences to come out. And if they come out, things do not look great for you, young lady. At the least, you aided a rebel infiltrate the palace and helped him escape the guards. At worst, you conspired with a rebel to assassinate the king and the queen."
"That's ridiculous. The king and the queen were not even in the palace. Why would there be an assassin after they left the palace?"
Mairon shrugged. "Who knows? Perhaps he thought it was easier to infiltrate the palace when they were not here, so he came to poison the king's wine?"
"He didn't even go near the king's cellar, and the guards were alive before I left the palace."
"Lady Giminzil!" Mairon stood up tall knowing full well his true self shone through his shell. The girl paled and cowed before him, shaking uncontrollably.
"Let me clarify the situation for you. The king and the queen will arrive tomorrow from Hyarnustar. The king will hear that a rebel assassin had penetrated the palace, that you helped the assassin. And that assassin is Abrazan unless you testify it was Amandil's grandson. You can say what you wish, but the evidence is clear. You were there at that balcony when the assassin came. The rope and the strands of hair found at the balcony along with the fresh sample of blood there proves that. We also have four dead guards and a poisoned barrel of wine. Your duty is to testify as to who that person is. Otherwise, you will prove your disloyalty. You and your entire family will be arrested for treason. Do you understand?"
Mairon took in a breath and softened his voice. The girl whimpered, terror evident in her eyes.
"All I am asking, Lady Giminzil, is for you to tell the truth. Think about your brother, your old father. You do not want to see him in the dungeon in his weak condition, do you, lady? Why risk losing your family for someone else, for a rebel no less. I know you are loyal to the king. And think about the queen. What would she do without you?"
Mairon let his words sink in. "I will be asking again tomorrow. I hope a good night in your plush, warm bed will help you to think clearly. I certainly would not want to see a lady like you suffer in the cold stone floor of the dungeon."
Mairon sat back with a smile as he watched the young woman practically run out of his chamber. She swayed as if she would faint and would have fallen on the floor unable to walk if it was not for Herumor who lend her his arm.
"Amandil, I have you now. You and your entire brood will burn in my temple."
Mairon laughed out loud. Whether she testified or not, whether it was Amandil's grandson or Abrazan, one thing was certain: the White Tree will burn. The rest was only a matter of time.