Chapter IX – On the Edge of an Abyss
Elboron closed his eyes, his head aching with weariness. The man who sat before him was trembling from nerves and anger, but Elboron ignored him. His mind wandered back to his father, who lay in the Houses of Healing even now, nigh unto death.
How could he have gotten himself so badly wounded after I was so angry with him? Elboron cursed to himself. How dare he shove his illness unfairly beneath my nose? Elboron knew that his father had been unhealthy ever since his mother passed away, but it was simply ungentlemanly and discourteous of Faramir to fall ill when Elboron had had no chance to apologize for his behavior!
I should be apologizing for nothing, Elboron reminded himself vehemently. He has no right to strip me of my birthright! He should be the one to apologize! In the back of his mind, though, a tingle of guilt resurfaced again.
Faramir could not apologize. He could not even awaken. Elboron growled with frustration. It is as though everything he does is merely in spite of me!
"My Lord Elboron, I swear to you, I had nothing to do with this," said Lord Orodreth. Despite his rigid back and stern appearance, Elboron could hear his voice shaking. "I would never do anything to harm Prince Faramir. He is a revered member of the Council, and I have deep respect for him! Your accusations are utterly outrageous!"
"I have as of yet accused you of nothing," said Elboron impatiently. "I asked you if you had heard any discontent that would cause someone to attempt to assassinate my father."
"After which you asked if I have been approached by anyone wishing me to finance such an appalling operation!" Lord Orodreth exclaimed. "It would appear to me, young Lord Elboron, that you believe that I am responsible for hiring the assassin who attempted to kill the Prince! As though I, the Lord of Pinnath Gelin, would even consider transgressing to such a…a deplorable level!"
"I asked you if you knew anything, my Lord," said Elboron tensely, his anger building as Orodreth continued to ignore his question. "What might have caused this attempt on my father's life?"
"How am I to know?" asked Lord Orodreth, affronted. "I am not knowledgeable of the minds of assassins!"
"There was a vote in the Council, not three days past," said Elboron darkly. "You changed your vote against my father's argument."
"What? If you mean to suggest that a petty vote in the Council would cause me to—"
"A petty vote, my Lord Orodreth?" Elboron's eyebrows rose. "That vote decided that Gondor should go to war against the Variags. My father is deeply set against foreign aggression, and you know this. You supported his platform against war in the East and then overturned your opinion in the vote! Why was this? Because you feel that the Variags are a threat to Gondor? Or because a superior lord on the Council promised you a share in the mining profits, should you happen to seize the mithril mines of Khand during the war?"
"Preposterous!" cried Lord Orodreth. "Lord Elboron, it is not within your power to interrogate me as though I was convicted of murder! I will say nothing further until I receive proper representation in a court of law before the King!"
Elboron rose from his seat, his eyes flashing. "You will not leave this room until you tell me everything that you know. Confess!" he snarled. "You wanted to be rid of my father's opposition so that you could receive your share of the rewards! You hired the assassin on behalf of the lord who recruited you!"
"Hold your tongue, boy, or I will have you charged for harassment and assault," said Lord Orodreth threateningly.
"Tell me!" roared Elboron, bringing a fist down hard on the table. Lord Orodreth stumbled to his feet, and at that moment a dark-clad Elf strode into the room.
"Elboron, silence," the Elf ordered quietly. "Lord Orodreth, please accept my apology on behalf of the King. Trust that you will find it in your best interest not to press charges against young Elboron here. I promise you that you will not be harassed by him again."
"This is none of your concern!" shouted Elboron.
Legolas faced the young boy, his eyes hard. "You will mind your place, child," said Legolas sternly.
"To the Void with you! This is my affair!" cried Elboron, his hands clenching into fists.
"Lord Orodreth, I beg you to pay the child no heed. It is difficult for him to cope with his father's illness after the strain of the past few months." Legolas bowed. "The King will pay you reparations of five thousand in gold for Elboron's discourtesy." Lord Orodreth mumbled something incoherent, nodded, and fled quickly from the room.
Elboron swore loudly at the Elf. "Who are you to speak in the King's name?" he demanded.
"You know that I am a friend of Elessar's and of Faramir's, and I have been sent to help you." Legolas frowned. "But you must cease your rash, impulsive disobedience of the law. Ever have you been a tactless child. So reckless, uncaring for anything that gets in your way! You are growing too old to be so neglectful of responsibility, Elboron."
"I care not for your damned politics!" shouted Elboron.
"I'm afraid that you have no choice in that, young one," said Legolas disapprovingly. "If you wish to find Faramir's attacker, then you must do so both discreetly and legally. Subtlety is the only thing that can help us. Though even that may be impossible now, thanks to your antics with Lord Orodreth…"
"My father could have been killed last night! The healers have told me that he has lost all consciousness! That he may never wake up! By the time the courts reach a decision, he will already be dead!" Elboron dropped heavily into his seat and covered his face in his hands, for once unable to hold back the flood of tears. His shoulders shuddered weakly, and he bit his lower lip to stop the sob that threatened to escape.
Legolas put his hand on the young boy's shoulder. "Elboron," he murmured. "I understand how difficult this must be for you…"
"Do you?" asked Elboron miserably, unbelievingly.
"Yes." Legolas sighed. "When I was very small, just an elfling, both of my younger sisters were killed during a spider raid on the Elven Halls of Mirkwood. I…I have not lived a day since then when I have not thought of them… I thought that it was my duty to protect them…that I failed them…" He shook his head. "During that raid, my mother, my father, and my two younger brothers were poisoned by the spiders and fell deathly ill. Only I was left unscathed, by mere accident. A few weeks passed when I…I thought that I was going to be forsaken for the rest of eternity, lost without my family. I watched them suffer, and I wished that I, too, had been poisoned. I wished that I would die with my family. I grew reckless, foolish, seeking out the spiders in their hives and trying to meet with death. Only the constant efforts of my father's warriors kept me from reaching the end of my suicidal missions. I…I was just like you, Elboron."
Elboron listened impassively, his eyes on the floor, seemingly numb to Legolas' words.
"Then Lord Elrond was summoned to Mirkwood. He arrived just as the warriors were bringing me back from another attempt to face my sisters' bane. He saw it then. He was the only one who saw it for what it truly was. The pain behind my eyes. The grief. The suffering. Just as I now see behind your eyes, Elboron. When we think that we are about to be left on the edge of an abyss with no one to remember us, we will do things that we think no one else can understand."
Legolas closed his eyes, and his voice dropped to a whisper. "But I do understand, Elboron. You suffer. Four months ago, you lost your mother. Now, you are close to losing your father. I understand that you would do anything to save him, or at least to convict his murderer. I understand that you don't care about the laws or about what anyone else has to say about you. But I also understand that you are digging yourself deeper into a hole in your mind to ignore your grief and your pain. You think that no one notices you. You think they have all forgotten you. Because you are a soldier, you think they all expect you to hide it.
"Elboron, listen to me when I say that until you can bring yourself to find peace with your father and forgive him for the mistakes he has made, until you can think of this without anger or grudge, until you can grieve without withholding the sorrow, and until you can let it pass from you, you will not find his murderer. You will be too overwrought by blind pain to succeed. These are the words spoken to me by Lord Elrond: 'Had your people any more tears to shed, they would shed them for you. But this land is dry to the bone from weeping, and if you abandon your people now, they will truly forget you.' This is your task, Elboron. You must give confidence where there is none. You must be your father for your people. They need you, Elboron, just as you need them. They will not forget you as long as you do not forget them."
Elboron pushed a hand back through his blonde hair, exhausted by the intensity of his anger and his grief. "Tell me, good Legolas," he said hoarsely. "What has this to do with the search for my father's attacker?"
Legolas smiled. "What I am trying to tell you, Elboron, is that if you look towards your fellow man rather than towards only your own grief, you will find the friends you need." The Elf stepped aside, and Elboron realized with a start that a man stood in the corner of the room, having slipped in unnoticed while Legolas spoke.
Elphir's smile was almost painful. "My good cousin Elboron," he said softly. "Please accept my help on this matter. My grief for you…and for Faramir…is too much for me to bear in silence. I would do for you whatever I can."
Elboron gazed evenly at Legolas and Elphir, and only with his eyes could he express his gratitude. "Truly, cousin—Lord Steward," Elboron corrected himself, "I would be most honored to accept any assistance you can give."
"None of that," said Elphir quietly. "I am no more than your cousin here. I will never be the Steward of Gondor, not in anything but name. Your father, Elboron, will always be Elessar's Steward. That title belongs to Faramir and to Faramir's line, and thus to you."
Elboron's anger flared again. "My father would not have it be so, Elphir," he said bitterly. "My father would deny me my birthright without consultation on the matter."
"Elboron, you must understand the torture that Faramir has withstood," said Legolas quietly. "Yes, it was wrong of him to repeal your birthright without taking counsel with you. Yes, Faramir has made many mistakes, none of which he is proud of. But the grief that resides in his heart is the same as in yours, Elboron. You and your father are not so different as you appear."
Legolas' words did nothing to calm the anger flashing behind Elboron's eyes. "I would disagree," he growled. "My father and I are very different. He does not understand me. He doesn't want to."
"That is not true," said Elphir. "Faramir understands you better than you think he does."
"He hates soldiers," snapped Elboron, jerking his head about sharply to glare at Elphir.
"He hates war," Elphir corrected in a steely tone. "You forget that Faramir, too, was once a soldier. I myself fought with him in the War when we were young."
"That was a long time ago," scoffed Elboron. "Any patriotic feeling my father once had is long gone now."
"Now that is going too far," said Elphir, frowning.
"No it isn't," Elboron retorted. "My father—" He was cut off for a moment by resurfacing tears, but he swallowed them deftly and resumed his defiant glare. "My father has no respect for the work of a soldier. He has no respect for the desire to serve one's country."
"Perhaps you should hold your tongue when you are ignorant of the truth," said Elphir stiffly. "Your father was the most dedicated, most selfless, most patriotic soldier in all of Gondor. Your father was willing to give his life for this nation! Gondor has never seen a captain more brave or more loved than Captain Faramir."
"Then why doesn't he respect me as a soldier?" demanded Elboron.
"You are not a soldier, Elboron!" cried Elphir. His words echoed into silence. Even Elboron was too stunned to reply. "You are a boy who has been trained to fight. That does not make you a soldier. You have not seen battle. You have not seen death. If you had seen half of the horror of war that I have seen, which Eru knows is not a quarter of what Faramir has seen, then you would know better than to disrespect your father and callously dismiss him as unpatriotic."
"Enough," said Legolas quietly. "Elphir, you must not blame the boy for speaking according to what he has been told—or, rather, what he has not been told. You know as well as I that Faramir never speaks of the War. As for you, Elboron, you should not always assume that you have surmised a person's character when you do not know their past. Your father sacrificed much for Gondor, and now he is forced to live with haunting memories. You will never hear him speak of it. You will probably never know the whole truth. But when I tell you that Faramir hates war, it is because I know the pain and the loss he has suffered because of war. All of us who lived then remember…and they are the worst memories that any of us harbor. You may hope, Elboron, that you never face the same horrors that your father did."
"I will fight for Gondor, no matter what I face," said Elboron proudly.
"The words of a young, glory-seeking man," said Elphir sadly. "I've heard them before." When Elboron only glared at Elphir, he added, "Your uncle, Boromir, spoke the same way you do."
Elboron met his cousin's gaze steadily. "Then my uncle was an honorable man."
"Boromir died thinking the way you do," said Legolas in a hushed voice.
"Are you going to tell me what you know of my father's attacker or aren't you?" said Elboron, changing the subject swiftly.
Legolas sighed. "The King is convinced that Lord Glosfalath is responsible for hiring the assassin. He believes that Glosfalath wants Elphir's position as Steward."
"Wants Faramir's position as Steward," said Elphir, frowning.
"Regardless of our own personal feelings on the matter, you are the official Steward of Gondor," said Legolas to Elphir. "Your life, too, is now at stake. You are most likely Glosfalath's next target, if Glosfalath is indeed behind this scheme. Elessar wants you to leave Minas Tirith and return to Dol Amroth until the culprit can be found, tried, and sentenced."
"I will not leave Faramir," said Elphir sternly.
Legolas smiled. "I was hoping that you would say that."
"If Elessar is so sure that it's Glosfalath, then why are we waiting?" asked Elboron. "He's right here, in this tower! All we have to do is find him, and we can make him suffer for what he's done!"
"Again I will say that it is not as easy as that," said Legolas. "Glosfalath is the Lord of Anfalas and not a man to be trifled with. If he is powerful enough to have the means to hire an assassin and make an attempt on Faramir's life, then he cannot be dealt with like an errant child. I cannot stress enough the importance of delicacy and subtlety in our task, Elboron."
"This is ridiculous! Glosfalath is responsible, so he should be brought to trial! The longer we wait, the more time he will have to sit happily right beneath our noses and gloat over his triumph! What if he does try to kill Elphir?"
"The Knights of the Swan are my personal bodyguards, and they are very loyal to me," said Elphir solemnly. "I am not concerned for my well-being. I am more than prepared to deal with this threat."
"What if my father dies?" cried Elboron.
"Elboron, whether we discover the culprit or not, your father may die," said Legolas softly. "Faramir is very sick. The King is with him now. I have just come from the Houses of Healing. They are doing all that they can for him. The choice now lies in his hands."
"You cannot be serious!" said Elboron. "You can't leave the choice to him! He's insane!"
"Elboron!" exclaimed Elphir, appalled.
"He has been insane ever since Mother died," said Elboron, his face set stonily. "He's just less insane at some times than at others."
"It is no longer our decision, Elboron," said Legolas. "The choice is Faramir's, whether we want it to be or not."
Elboron's eyes flickered to the floor, the shadow of something like grief passing across his face. At last, he looked back up at Legolas and Elphir, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
"Then he is already dead."
Authors's Note: Yay! I updated! Hehehe. I really, really hope you guys like this chapter! For those of you who read both this story and "Lost Tales of My Father", I am most eager to know if Elboron's personality in this chapter matches the personality I've given him in his later life. Please let me know what you think of his personality if you review! Thanks for your continued support, mellyn nin! I know I've been frustratingly slow with updates lately! Namarië! - Minyasta