Chapter XXII
Even if his brothers were still angry for his decision, they did not show it openly. Although Curufin winced every time the matter of making some plans was brought up, at least he stopped ostensibly avoiding his brother. Maedhros was relieved, even if he would not admit it openly; his expression softened and his exercises with Alcarino no longer looked like escape. The eldest son of Feanor wasted no time and discussed various details whenever he could. One after another he brought up matters that needed planning and watched his brothers' reactions.
All of this, though, happened only among them, for Fingon was tactful enough not to come for a while and gave them time. They were also alone one evening when Maedhros surprised his brothers, using the fact that they were all present.
"II wish to call a council," he announced after the meal, disturbing Maglor's humming. "Tomorrow at noon."
"What for?" Asked Caranthir. Despite Alcarino's advice, after a week he refused to keep his arm on sling and was simply careful. Unlike Maedhros, still weakened, he was healing fast, so the healer let him be.
"I don't want our Noldor be the last to learn what we are about to do," replied Maedhros calmly. It was a miracle that they had managed to keep it a secret so far; only Alcarino knew. "Call all your closest in command. I want to see who you trusted and charged with responsibilities. We shall meet on the council tomorrow, I will get acquainted with the structures you have created and I will announce what necessary. The rest shall pass the news later, for I suspect we do not have a place large enough to gather everyone."
"We don't," admitted Maglor. "I have no one to inform, apart from one or two. Tyelko passed most of our inner arrangements."
"I'll leave it to you. Call those you deem necessary."
All of the brothers left aside from Amras who was sketching something in the light of crystal lamp. He seemed to have ignored his eldest brother, busy with drawing.
"I meant you too, Amras," Maedhros reminded him calmly and the younger redhead jerked, surprised.
"Of course," he nodded shortly and put away his pencil. "Do you wish me to ask anyone in your stead?"
"There's no need. I've already informed Alcarino and Vorindon. He's the only one alive," the elder brother reminded him grimly. "For now I wish to learn what structures you have made before I change anything."
Amras abandoned his work and left, leaving his quill and a few sheets of paper on the table. Maedhros took one of them and started writing his clumsy letters.
xxx
Maedhros spent most of the morning convincing himself that the worst was over, now that he no longer had to argue with his brothers, but only inform his elves about his decision. Nevertheless, it was going to be his first official meeting, if one didn't count that unexpected dinner with Sindar and Fingon's visit when he came to pass his father's answer. The eldest son of Feanor did not expect much trouble, yet he was ill at ease, so he jerked when the doors opened and Curufin came inside with impatience written all over his face.
"Yes, Curufinwe?" Maedhros glanced at his brother, intrigued. He was about to ask one of his brothers to help him braid his hair, but Curufin was not the one he expected. He only hoped his brother did not come because he was having some remarks directly before the council.
"Did you check that chest when you were cleaning your wardrobe with Moryo?" The smith surprised him with his question.
"No. He claimed there were some of my smaller possessions and we decided to sort it another time."
"I cannot find one thing," admitted Curufin irritated. "May I?"
"Suit yourself." Maedhros had no idea what his brother was looking for that he decided to check also among his things, but he rose slowly to use the opportunity and see what was in the chest.
Curufin opened the chest and shuddered a little when Maedhros leaned against him to sit beside him on the floor. The chest was only half filled and as far as Maedhros remembered, it contained all of his small personal belongings; his brothers must have hidden them here after his imprisonment. The smith took out a small knife, then a quill and a dried inkwell. Then he placed a small book on the floor, along with Feanor's belt and his pins, which made Maedhros realise the chest contained all that was too painful to look at. For a moment he even mused if Curufin would take out those few belongings of their youngest brother, which had not burned along with the ships, but the smith took only a few boxes; one of them, as Maedhros recalled, should have contained jewellery, so he took it and glanced inside, losing interest in the search. He took out a ring he had once worn quite often, but the trinket slipped from his too thin fingers.
A silver belt, another memory from Valinorean festivals, clang as Curufin put it carelessly on the floor and took a square box from the bottom.
"That's what I was looking for," he claimed, satisfied. "If you had told me earlier you were going to hold a council, I would have prepared you something, but there's no time. And this is Atto's doing..."
Maedhros stared perplexed at the silver circlet, an masterly piece of jewellery underlining his origin. So this was the reason Curufin made so much fuss...?
He must have shown his surprise, for his younger brother snorted in irritation.
"You are calling your first council since you're back," he explained, offended. "You may be abdicating, but not with your head bare. And let me remind you that you have not given up the crown yet."
Maedhros did not oppose. He ran his fingers down the delicate ornaments at the side to the star of their House in the front. Despite having been kept in the box, the silver required a bit of cleaning, but it was fine otherwise. Content, Maedhros rubbed the circlet against his sling and nodded at his brother's unspoken question.
"Will you help me?"
xxx
It could have been worse, thought Maglor when the council was over and most of the Noldor had left. It could have been much, much worse.
Maedhros was visibly at ease, knowing that he would not have to convince his brothers as well. Maglor had to admit Celegorm had met the expectations and Maedhros received a whole set of reports from the nearby grounds, even if they had discussed the matters before during supper. Since that encounter with orcs they had increased patrols to prevent such unpleasant surprises in the future. Maglor noticed with amusement that his brother was doing his best and ensured better discipline than usual. What surprised him, was the fact that Amras was responsible for the routes in the East near the hills, though it shouldn't have; it was Celegorm who shared the duties with the youngest and Maglor usually did not interfere.
The eldest son of Feanor seemed fully satisfied despite the conditions, which, compared to Valinor, were painfully temporary. The dining room, used occasionally for larger gatherings like this, seemed too crowded, but Maglor suspected it was just his own feeling caused by his nervousness; he was subconsciously waiting for someone to point out all the things he might have neglected during his regency. After the council, however, he had to admit the rest had taken Maedhros's revelations much better than them. There was relief on most of the faces, sometimes anxiety if the plan would work; only few looked grimly at their king, but they were a minority. During those last few years Maglor had put aside from ruling all who were left from his father's commanders; their presence had burdened him and he had had enough brothers to give them the duties Feanor had earlier transferred on his friends, preferring to keep his sons close to him. But none of those few dared to tell Maedhros in the face that he was making a mistake.
Maglor remained alone in the dining room, putting his brother's notes in order and trying to ignore the fact that Maedhros had left with the others, engaged deeply in conversation. He could hear them talking on the corridor, the noise of the elves departing slowly and wandering around the yard, waiting to exchange a few words with the eldest son of Feanor. Maedhros was truly back on his right place and he was retaking the leadership. He needed that, for it was one thing to learn about the daily struggle and another to actually meet with those who fulfilled his brothers' orders. Maglor backed off and decided not to interfere when his elder brother pointed Vorindon to sit next to him and asked his brothers to mingle with their subordinates. It was his moment to get used to being the leader again, it was up to him to present his plan.
Quite some time had passed before Maedhros returned to the dining room and sat heavily in the armchair by the fire, without bothering to remove his cloak. As the colder days came, it became clear that he was not indifferent to the weather. Alcarino was perplexed at first, but then he decided that the overall damage of the body and malnourishment were to be blamed for it. He thought that aches in joints, especially of the right shoulder, would subdue once Maedhros put on some weight and rebuilt his muscles. For now it seemed that the Winter months were not going to be exactly pleasant. Maedhros tried not to notice that and usually dismissed his brothers' inquires, so Maglor did not ask. He just added some wood to the fireplace and sat. He was hoping Maedhros would comment the whole meeting, but his brother said nothing.
xxx
As it soon turned out, the abdication ceremony required quite a lot of preparations on every step to ensure it would not end with a catastrophe. As Fingon humourlessly stated, they were walking on thin ice and it was best to spend a few days on planning than regret some misunderstanding later.
Fingon and Finrod came from the other side of the lake; the latter quickly proved useful. Aside from the fact that he was the eldest among Finarfin's children, he also brought some cheeriness into their planning. From the sons of Feanor the two eldest took it upon themselves. Maglor was helping his brother with the issues he might not have been familiar with and some of the minor arrangements he did by himself with his cousins, discussing the results with Maedhros and making some corrections if necessary.
This evening was dedicated to deciding how to seat Maedhros's escort by the tables to possibly avoid strains. The easiest way – namely excluding from the feast all who might have caused problems – was not an option, as it would mean excluding at least Turgon and Finrod's sister, and this was not the point. As the result they were spending second hour sketching various options of placing the guests; every time it turned out they had skipped someone and Caranthir suddenly ended next to Angrod. The only common thing in all those versions was Maedhros sitting on Fingolfin's right and Fingon on his left.
"Leave Tyelkormo and Irisse together, they should be pleased," Maedhros joined in, cutting off Fingon's lengthy deliberations about Turgon being certainly displeased with it.
"Irisse for certain. She wanted to come with us," agreed Fingon. "You're right, they should not cause trouble this way."
"You mean Tyelko won't," Maglor corrected him with a smile. "Which does not solve the problem of Curvo."
"I told you, put him with Artanis," repeated Finrod and there was friendly mockery in his eyes. "As I know them, none of them will lower themselves to being provoked, so they should not make a scene."
"And you? With whom can you not be seated?" Fingon elbowed his golden cousin.
"Me? And since when am I the black sheep among my siblings?" Fingon feigned offence. "It doesn't matter to me."
"Your place is somewhere here." Maglor circled the pen around Fingolfin and wrote his cousin's name next to Maedhros. "And we're done with firstborns."
Maedhros glanced at the paper where Maglor had just separated him from his brothers, but he said nothing. Maglor was right, they could not forget about Finarfin's eldest son just because he wished to have one of his brothers nearby.
It was Finrod who reacted, looking him in the eye. He smiled friendly and, as Maedhros understood, tried to reach with his thought, but he met a wall; the mind of Feanor's eldest son was closed to this kind of communication. His cousin seemed perplexed, but he just shook his head and crossed his name out on the paper to change places with Maglor.
"It won't matter if we sit like this, right?"
"Thank you." Maedhros bowed slightly and returned Finrod's friendly smile.
"Very well, so Curufinwe is solved" Maglor got back to the main topic and glanced at the long list they still had to seat. "Who's next? Do we have anyone else problematic?"
"Are you calling our family problematic?" Fingon took the carafe with wine and refilled everyone's goblets.
"You are forgetting yourself, Makalaure," Maedhros feigned scolding.
"I meant it's an understatement," Fingon clarified. "Do you think Lalwen between Angarato and Morifinwe will be enough?"
Maedhros let his brother lead the conversation and seat the rest of their family by the main table, one of the few planned for the celebration. It seemed they had finally come to a version that did not threaten them with a possibility of a scandal. Those arrangements were wearing him, but he could not just leave their cousins and go to rest without suggesting at the same time that he was tired. But the truth was that after a long day even in the armchair he was not comfortable and the Autumn weather was making him miserable.
"One table done," Fingon sighed with relief, ostensibly putting away the sheet with final version. "Which next?"
Maglor glanced at his elder brother and noticed his discomfort. Unlike his cousins sitting on the opposite side of the table, he could see that from some time Maedhros was discreetly trying to massage his right elbow.
"Let's leave it till morning," he suggested. "It will go more smoothly. Right now I would suggest supper, Tyelkormo has come back from hunt today and he promised some roasted meat."
"You go." Maedhros was grateful for his brother's perceptivity, which gave him the possibility to go and get some rest. "I'm not hungry."
"Are you staying here, Maitimo? Do you want me to bring you something?"
"No, thank you. Send Amras if you see him. I need to tell him few things," asked Maedhros. They had decided Amras would be his shadow on the ceremony, in case he needed anything.
Maglor nodded and invited their cousins for the meal, leaving Maedhros alone. The eldest son of Feanor waited for a while, but when Amras did not come, he went back to his room to lie down.