Chapter 27: Two Tests (Angharad)

c/w: violence, imprisonment

(~***~)

As she set out, Angharad realized she'd never gone anywhere alone at nighttime before. Especially not in a strange forest with an army camped outside.

She snuck first to the weapons shed, as Jade Fox had suggested. She rifled through shelves of folded clothing until she found what she was looking for: the close-fitting suit that she'd last seen worn by a dying woman. It made her shiver to think of it, but she changed into the outfit. Everything was green. Long sleeves, long trousers and slippers, a cap, a silk mask to go over her nose and mouth – the only thing left that might stand out from the greenery of her surroundings were her fingers and a thin strip of skin where her eyes were bared.

Completely camouflaged, the young elf scaled a bamboo trunk and began moving through the high boughs of the trees. Each stalk would bend under her weight until she could grab the next one. With no more noise than a wind would make rustling through the leaves, Angharad made her way towards the hated Emperor's army.

The night animals of the forest paid her little heed. What care did they have for the wanderings of a strangely ambulatory tree spirit? She saw a few of them flash by her, moving out of her way without a second glance. And yet. She had the nagging feeling that something was watching her.

Angharad moved closer and closer until she could hear the sounds of guards talking to each other. The lights of the army camp winked at her through the frond-like bamboo leaves.

The girl moved a little further south, wanting to be as close as she could safely get to hear as much as possible. One of the officer's tents was within a few feet of the wood. A few layers of trees back from the edge, Angharad set herself up to wait. If everything went to plan, she would wait in this tree for the whole day and return to the Hidden Village after the sun set to give her report.

She could hear snoring, which was a good sign that she'd be able to hear them talking, she thought. She could not wait to tell her grandfather about this. He would surely be so impressed with how far she'd come since leaving Valinor. Such thoughts occupied her in light reverie until the light of dawn split the sky.

Angharad snapped fully awake as a guard trudged in the forest, approaching the bent trees where she was hiding. Angharad sipped tiny, quiet breaths and kept completely still. Surely he would never see her in the dawn half-light?

The soldier stopped almost directly beneath her and unbuttoned his pants, relieving himself on a bamboo stalk. (Gross.) The man hummed to himself as he finished. When he was done, he yawned and stretched. Angharad was getting worried he'd look up and notice her. She should blend in with the leaves, but this close, he still might be able to tell.

Suddenly, deeper in the forest, she heard a rasping sound. She resisted the urge to whip her head around, instead straining to look at whatever it was out of the corner of her eye. She saw something move between two stalks on the ground.

The man had heard it, too. He searched between the bamboo stalks, focusing on the ground where the sound had come from. Another dry, scratchy noise and a soft hiss whispered through the dense forest.

"No, no way. I do not get paid enough," the soldier muttered and dashed out of the forest. He passed another waking guard on his way back into the camp, pointing back at the stand of trees. The guard shifted his angle to find a different part of the wood to pee in.

When he was gone Angharad looked all around her, on the ground and in the trees, but could see nothing. Whatever it was seemed to have lost interest when the soldier retreated. Angharad let out a sigh of relief.

With the threat gone, she trained her ears on the sounds of the waking encampment. The officers began to chat amongst themselves about the day's plans. Most of it sounded boring to Angharad. Training schedules. Bathing rotations. Nothing about a raid on a camp of rebels in the woods.

She heard a voice speaking in stiff tones. Eventually, she figured it was a night guard giving a report to his commanding officer.

"No new movement after we chased down the spies yesterday?" one voice asked.

"No, sir! All quiet in the camp last night, sir," the other voice replied.

"Dismissed, soldier," the voice (the officer?) said. She heard footsteps walking away.

"Do you think they were alone?" a new voice asked.

"I doubt it," the officer replied. "But we didn't manage to get anything out of the prisoner before he died. It's a shame, I would have liked to talk to our 'guest' a little longer."

"One of them got away," the other voice replied.

"She had a mortal wound, I'm sure of it," the officer replied. "She was soaked in blood even before she started running. The nearest town is four miles away. No way she made it there to report to anyone before she died."

"Even so, should we send a messenger back to the convoy? There have been rumors about the rebellion in the Northern province making it this far South. Would it be safer to send the prisoners on another road? They will be here in another day – two at the most – if we don't turn them away."

"There is no completely safe road to the work camps anymore. Let them come through. We'll make sure the company is ready to safeguard their passage when they arrive. Who has any use for a bunch of revolutionaries off to do hard labor for the rest of their lives, anyway? I am not worried about it."

"They'd make good soldiers for an insurrection, though, wouldn't they? I thought they only sent the strong ones out to build army roads and camps?"

"Strong is a relative term when it comes to peasants," the officer scoffed. "Besides, I would be more worried about the supply wagons than the prisoners. Lot of starving people out here, it will be a target for raids."

Someone let out a skeptical sounding scoff, but the conversation ended. The sound of tent flaps opening and feet marching off followed.

Angharad was over the moon. This was exactly the kind of thing they needed to know! If she heard nothing else all day, her mission would still be a total success. She considered heading back to the Hidden Village now, imagining Zicheng's happy face at her bravely gained news. But she thought about what the tops of the bamboo waving would look like if she started moving through them now and resolved to stay put.

The day passed agonizingly slowly. She overheard all sorts of ordinary talk. Someone was betrothed. Someone missed his mother's cooking. Someone got punished for being tardy and had to dig latrines for a week. Towards the end of the day, the officers discussed the supply wagons again, going over what their allotment of food, medicines, and weapons would be.

Finally, it was dark again. Angharad did the right thing and waited until the noise settled down and she could hear the deep breathing of sleeping humans. Then, with rabid excitement, she made her way back to the Hidden Village with all possible speed.

Below her, the rasping sound started up again as something slid between the trees below the young elf.

(~***~)

When Angharad arrived, she ran across the camp as fast as she could to Zicheng's hut.

The young elf burst into the middle of a serious meeting between Zicheng and his captains. Jade Fox suppressed an expression of triumph when she saw the girl, dressed in full spy gear, wearing her excitement on her face.

"What is the meaning of this?" one of the leaders said, outraged.

"Where have you been?" Zicheng demanded. "Your friend has been beside himself looking for you."

"I'll talk to him right after this, I promise," Angharad said. "I have important news. I spied on the army camp all day – " she started.

"You what!?" Zicheng shouted. "Do you know how much risk you've put us all at? Were you followed back?"

Angharad was taken aback at how angry Zicheng looked. She'd never seen him upset before and she didn't much like it.

"Wait, no, I wasn't. I'm sure of it. I went at night and hid in the treetops all day. I didn't have to go very close because I can hear really, really well. Nobody saw me," Angharad spoke in a rush. Zicheng looked furious. "Please, listen. I heard some really important things!"

Zicheng looked over at Jade Fox with a harsh glare. "I hope you didn't encourage this."

"No of course not," Jade said smoothly. "My pupil understands her capabilities better than any of us. She took the initiative to get information we badly need. Surely you'll at least hear what she learned after she gathered it at such personal risk? Or have you forgotten that she's still being hunted by the very army she went to spy on?"

Angharad was all mixed up. She was confused that Jade was lying. The girl supposed Jade had never told her to go in so many words. Had she been mistaken? But she felt proud to hear Jade's insinuation that she had been brave.

Zicheng ground his teeth. He was certain the slippery Jade Fox was behind this, for all she blamed it on the child now. He had too many other things to deal with. This girl was starting to take up more of his attention than he liked. He was of half a mind to send her away this very evening. They had sympathetic allies in the empty plains in the far North – let her run wild up there where there was no one to watch. He let out a sharp breath and turned to the pale girl.

"Trainee, report," he said simply. Angharad stood at attention and did as she was told. She saw relief on the faces of the adults when she told them that the army was unaware of their presence. The reactions were more mixed when she told them about the convoy of prisoners and provisions.

The Dashing King questioned her extensively about the supply wagons. He wanted to know everything that was said about their contents, when they would arrive, and how they would be protected. His people were desperate for the kinds of food and medicines those wagons held. If there were any way to raid them… Zicheng and his captains began a heated discussion about how they might accomplish such an attack. They forgot the girl was still there as they began to form a plan.

"What about the prisoners?" Angharad interrupted. "They resisted the Emperor. Aren't they your people, too? Shouldn't we try to free them?" she suggested.

Zicheng shuddered at the thought of adding more mouths to feed. She hadn't said how many prisoners there were. What if there were a lot? He could not commit to adding that kind of population to this Hidden Village. If they were known convicts, he'd have nowhere else to place them.

"We can't," he said simply to the girl. "Go talk to your friend. He's a wreck."

"But we have to help them!" Angharad almost shouted. Her translator had cared when she needed to escape the Emperor. He'd been sure the rebellion would help her. Because it had been right to do so, right?

Jade Fox left the circle of captains and approached her student.

"I'm sorry Anhe, but we can't help. We'll need all of our fighters to raid the supply wagons. That has to be our priority right now," she told the agitated girl.

"I did what you said," Angharad whispered to Jade.

"I know. You did so good. Just wait a bit for Zicheng to cool off, he'll see it. No one else could have done it but you," Jade tried to mollify her student.

"I could free the prisoners during the raid," she said. "You'll draw all the soldiers off, it would be easy. Ginnar's really good at picking locks."

"No, you aren't ready for that. It would be harder than you think. Really dangerous, and for what? A bunch of convicts? They're not worth risking you. You're too special," Jade said. Flattery had been working on her student so far. She had no reason to believe it wouldn't again now.

"Go talk to your friend," Jade tried to say kindly. She really wanted to get back to this plan her idiot compatriots were mucking up behind her.

The girl had a film of sparkling tears in her eyes. She ran out of the hut, weeping angrily.

(~***~)

Ginnar had been lying in his bunk, unable to sleep. Where was Angharad? The question had been torturing him all day. Jade Fox would not say, although she had an odd look on her face when he asked, like she was secretly pleased about something.

Was she in danger? Was she hurt? Was she dead? Where would he be without Angharad? Who could he talk to that would understand how badly he needed to go home? How would he even get home if she were gone and her parents stopped searching for her? His poor little head spun.

The door swung open and seconds later Angharad climbed into his bunk and was crying into his mattress. Ginnar sat up in shock. Reflexively, he patted her on the back.

"Where were you! Are you alright?" he asked.

SHHHHHHHHH an unhappy voice said. Ginnar grabbed Angharad and pulled her outside, looking her over in the moonlight. She didn't look hurt. What was she wearing?

"What happened?" he demanded. His friend was wiping tears from her cheeks and sniffling.

"I took a disguise and went to spy on the army because we needed information, but now the Dashing King is so mad at me, but I was only doing what Jade told me to!" Angharad's words came out in a jumble.

"You what? You spied on the army? We need to find somewhere to sit, you have to tell me everything," Ginnar said.

He listened to Angharad's story with a mix of alarm and pride in his friend's skill. He wanted to punch that stupid teacher of hers, goading her into taking off in the middle of the night, alone, to spy on an army that was literally hunting her. But he was also very impressed. She hadn't been seen and she brought back invaluable information. He said as much to Angharad, who was chewing on her lip.

"I want to help the prisoners," she admitted.

"How?" Ginnar asked. "Jade may have just proved she really is a fox, but she is right about one thing. You cannot free a bunch of prisoners all alone. All of the adult fighters will be busy with this raid you say they are planning."

"But what if we could free them alone, Ginnar?" she insisted. "They are planning to ambush the convoy before it reaches the army encampment, when it only has the travelling guard with it. If the guard is just focusing on the wagons we could run in, pick the locks to let the prisoners go, and run out again."

Ginnar was shaking his head emphatically. "No way. You seem to keep forgetting that we are just children. No matter how much training you have been doing, it is still true."

"But someone has to do something!" Angharad almost wailed she was so upset.

"Why do you care so much?" Ginnar asked.

"You know what they said when I asked them to save the prisoners? They said they are not worth it. They are not special like us. When we asked the rebels for help, they gave it to us right away. And I always thought it was because that is what was right. But maybe it was only because we were different, and they wanted us because of that. Like everyone else in the world of men!"

"But these are their own people. People who resisted the Emperor and are being punished for it. It is you who taught me that every minute of every mortal's life matters. The rebellion should care about these people. But they will not do anything for them. I cannot stand to watch it," Angharad explained tearfully.

Ginnar was taken aback. As many times as it had taken him to get through to her, she finally understood the fragile, precious nature of a mortal life. Just in time to have her heart broken over someone else not caring about it.

"We could just watch," Angharad tried one more time. "We could watch from the woods and if there is a good moment, we could run in and break the locks and run away again."

Ginnar was bouncing his fist on his knee. He still thought it was a bad idea. But there was something to what she said. They'd been helped when they needed it without question. Shouldn't someone care more about these abused people? If they just watched and if there happened to be an opening…

"I will watch with you elf, if it means so much to you. But we will only do something if it is really, really safe. You are right. They should care about their own people as much as they cared about us," he admitted. He found Angharad's outrage was catching. They had chosen supplies over their own fighters. Suddenly this rebellion seemed a lot less righteous to him.

(~***~)

And so the two children of the West found themselves hiding at the edge of a wood, prepared to help a few desperate people from the East if the opportunity presented itself. They had followed the rebel fighters quietly and found a place to hide half a mile down the road from where the raid was being staged. (Ginnar had insisted on this distance, although Angharad didn't like it.)

The convoy began to roll by. Wagons of food, medicines, and weapons passed them, all heavily guarded. Straggling at the end, two guards harassed a group of two dozen men and women to keep up. They had manacles on their wrists, through which a long chain had been strung, heavy locks swinging from both ends. The people looked thin, sweaty, and exhausted. Angharad thought it hurt just to look at them.

Perhaps the timing was a stroke of fate. Just as the prisoners began to pass the children's hiding place, the sounds of fighting began to echo down the road. The guards cursed the prisoners harshly for being so far behind. One of them grabbed the chain of people and yanked them closer to the forest. Not feet from the children, the guard wrapped the end of the chain around a thick bamboo stalk and locked it tightly. Then, the guards ran down the road into the melee, leaving their wards alone.

"Now, Ginnar, now!" Angharad hissed. The two youngsters surged out from under their bush, keeping low to the ground. The prisoners were shocked at the appearance of the two strange-looking children, but they were more than happy to receive help.

Ginnar had brought some tools from the village he thought would work on locks and began working at them with fervor. They were tricky locks, he thought. Finally, with a grunt of effort, he popped the first lock open and unwound the chain from the tree.

"We can't get free unless you unlock the other end, too" the man at the head of the line told the youngster.

Angharad urged them forward. "Walk together for now – get into the trees first!"

The prisoners followed her, pushing and pulling on one another as they tried to pick their way over uneven ground. Angharad wished she knew more about where they were. She'd never been this far South in the forest before. It didn't look like the part she knew. The trees grew through fallen stone walls and a few empty foundations in the ground.

Two of the people in the chain tripped at the same moment, bringing half the line down.

"Enough of this," Ginnar said. He began working at the lock at the other end of the chain. He was trying to figure out how the whole mechanism worked. This one would release them all, right?

Angharad was getting anxious. She could hear soldiers running back towards the clearing they'd just fled. A minute later, one of them shouted in alarm that the prisoners were gone. They argued. Someone spotted some broken branches.

"Ginnar we have to go!" she told him in Sindarin. The only thing she wanted more than to help these people was not to be caught again – and for Ginnar not to die.

"I almost have it!" he told her. The full weight of his dwarfish stubbornness was engaged. He was going to beat this lock and save these people if it was his last act on earth.

Angharad could feel her heart pounding like a drum in her chest. She put the staff she'd brought with her down on the ground and tried to help people up. She looked around her, seeking some inspiration for what to do next. She could hear the soldiers running into the woods. The soldiers were running into the woods!

She had never wanted the guidance of her parents more in her entire life. She tried to imagine what Legolas would say, but she was so pumped up on adrenaline she could barely think. "Ada, ada, what would you tell me now?" she begged in her head.

"Elbereth!" she screamed as much as prayed in her mind. "This is my folly – please. Do not let my friend die because of me. Let me go instead if I must!"

(~***~)

From the throne room of the heavens, Nienna watched with sad serenity.

"She has asked", she told Manwё and Varda. "As I predicted."

"It is an unprecedented intervention," Manwё noted calmly.

"Our instructions were clear. Find a way, without changing the path of humanity. There are few options. The door to one such future has opened," Nienna argued on the elves' behalf.

"So be it," said Varda. She reached into the orchestra of life and found three tunes, alike, but far apart. And she gave them a bridge.

(~***~)

With the sounds of soldiers crashing through the forest towards them in her ears, Angharad suddenly felt something in her fёa shift. The music she had been missing surged forth in a wild crescendo. She felt a presence – no two presences – behind her own eyes.

"Angharad, where are you?" a voice said in her mind. She knew that voice. She would know it anywhere.

"Ada?" she thought back.

(~***~)