Chapter Eighteen
There was plenty to explore. She decided that first she would go up, since the citadel was already higher than the rest of the city and she would see the top before going down. Unfortunately for Hiliel, going up meant climbing.
"No!" Yarna span around on the ball of one foot, the other extended over a ledge from which she had been about to make the jump to the next rooftop. Hiliel was clinging onto the window sill she had just climbed onto, not daring to step onto the tiles. "You are going to fall."
"Not fall," answered Yarna, not quite sure how she was supposed to answer in the new tongue. "Help?" It seemed that there was something wrong with Hiliel, even Valandil could climb a roof.
"It is not safe, Yarna."
"Nutsif?"
"Dangerous." Hiliel switched to Sindarin and she suddenly understood.
"Hiliel not fall, not big house top." Yarna did her best to keep up what Curunír had told her to do, she was meant to be learning the tongue of Gondor although it was proving hard.
"Roof," Hiliel sighed, taking her first step onto the tiles. "A house top is a roof."
"Roof. Come!" Yarna hopped across to the next roof and ran up the slant. Hiliel did not hop, nor run. Instead she made her way as if on ice towards the edge.
"It's too far. I can't jump that far." Yarna frowned at her companion. Valandil could make the jump and he was smaller than Hiliel. Lindir always said she was too small for large jumps yet Yarna could manage it easily.
"Jump!" Hiliel shook her head. "Coming to get you me!" By running along the rooftop, almost out of sight, Yarna provided Hiliel with the inspiration she needed to make the jump.
"Slow down! Come back! Please, Yarna, there are better things to do than fall from rooftops."
"Not slow, not fair!" Yarna complained, swinging herself around the corner so that she was beside Hiliel.
"There are other things to do. Other places." Hiliel sighed when she received a blank face. "Explore different path," she said. Yarna considered it for a moment. There were no trees to climb, the river was a long way away in the distance by the other city.
"What?" Yarna asked her.
"Secrets." Secrets interested her, they were interesting and she could show off being clever. Some secrets could be found on rooftops, but many were found from listening and sneaking.
"Westron secrets," she said softly. She could not understand many of the adults' secrets and since the adults spoke Westron in the Citadel they would be even harder to understand.
"You will understand." Hiliel began to look for a way down, finding a window ledge to climb back into. Disappointed at how little she had actually seen, Yarna made up her mind to return to the rooftops at night when Hiliel slept and she could watch the stars and explore on her own.
The window opened into a bedchamber, vacant and small.
"Maids," Hiliel told her. There was no bed, just a collection of sacks on the floor and a grey blanket. The smell of old straw and sweat wafted through the air. It was not that much worse than the rest of the citadel, Yarna decided for it was clean and even Hiliel's little trundle cot smelled the same. Only her bed smelled of feathers although she could smell straw underneath. Hiliel led her quickly out of the room and into a tiny attic corridor. The walls were wood not stone, eaves forcing Hiliel to duck and when they reached the steep uncarpeted stairs the rooms that had been fitted in under the roof stopped and she could see the sky where two tiles were missing.
Someone was coming up the stairs so Yarna held back to let them pass.
"Come." Hiliel held out a hand, frowning. Moments later the footsteps were loud enough for her to hear as well and she looked down. She carried on all the same, giving Yarna no choice but to follow her. The woman coming up was carrying a basket of clothes, white linen spilling over the edge. She flattened herself against the wall when she saw Hiliel, curtseying as best she could.
"Good morning," Yarna said cheerfully to her as they passed. The woman dropped the basket, narrowly missing hitting the elfling on the head.
"Yarna!" She was almost pulled down the stairs away from the shocked woman. Wide brown eyes followed them, the clothes forgotten at the woman's feet.
"What?" Yarna asked once they had reached the bottom of the stairs.
"People aren't used to elves, not little ones and not up here. We should not be here. Come on." Hiliel almost ran through the maze of narrow corridors until they reached stone once again and there were tapestries on the walls. The stone citadel was emptier, filled with people walking by slowly, all talking seriously. Women strolled by in dresses as beautiful as Nairn's or her mother's used to be. The men were more often in armour or wore tunics and jewels. No one appeared to be wearing ordinary clothes, everything was too fine as if they were all about to see the King. Yarna looked down at the black dress she was wearing. It was plain velvet and far too heavy for play but not as grand as what the other courtiers were wearing. Her dress when meeting the King had been grander. She soon realised that she was not supposed to wear the dresses in the wardrobe, they were special and there were only three. One blue, one black and one red, all embroidered and stiff to walk in. No one would let her wear her old clothes, Hiliel would not give her back her tunics and leggings. She kept her boots, however, and her cloak.
"Secrets?" she asked her companion impatiently. Hiliel led her to a tapestry of people eating in a forest, being served and having minstrels playing for them beneath the trees. It was flat and unrealistic. Hiliel slid behind it, pulling Yarna with her. The hidden door turned straight into a staircase so steep that by the time they reached the top Hiliel was breathing heavily.
Yarna recognised the corridor as the one just a turn away from her room, except they did not go that way. Instead they went through another passageway, twisting up through the bottom of a tower. Below she heard deep voices and she stopped. Hiliel could not hear them, waving her on.
"Listen," she told the Edain. The men below were speaking Sindarin, one well the other badly. After a moment she recognised Curunír's voice.
"They will not guard any lands other than their own," he said angrily. "If you wish to treat with the Lady Galadriel you must do so yourself. I have given my approval to their councils and will not go back on it."
"They must see the Anduin needs guarding!" The King spoke far louder than the wizard, even Hiliel heard something. "They cannot retreat behind their borders and pretend the world has stopped turning!"
"They can and they will. It is their way." It seemed to her that Curunír did not like this anymore than the King did, and did not like having to
"Then they will have no protection from Gondor."
"That does not faze them now. Their enemy is defeated, they have what they wanted. They will return to their lives and shut their gates." Yarna let out a little gasp then grinned at what the King said in reply to that. It was something she had only heard when spying on the guards or cooks, or when Erestor spilled ink.
"They are interested enough in Arnor. I have another letter from Lord Elrond. Would it not be easier for the elves if they had control of the ruler of both kingdoms? I will not cede Gondor to my cousin. He may keep Arnor for all I care but it is my people's land and neither Elrond nor Galadriel will control it. Do you think I cannot see what they are doing? Elrond rules in Imladris, with Glorfindel of Gondolin as advisor to my cousin he will effectively rule Arnor, the elves of Lindon control the coast. They are eager to divide up the north yet as soon as I ask Lothórien to guard the northern borders of Gondor, to share in the risks for the Anduin concerns them also, I get no reply. No aid. As soon as they cannot control the land themselves they give it up as worthless."
"I am not telling you to trust them. It is unwise to trust the elves too readily." She recognised Curunír's tone, he used it with her as well. He spoke as if the King were a child. "I am explaining that they are self-serving but not intending to control your kingdom, nor indeed Arnor. They have no interest in them except when they come into contact with elven lands."
"Then why is Glorfindel's niece here?" Yarna held her breath and put a finger to her lips to try and make Hiliel breathe more quietly. They were suddenly talking about her and she did not care that eavesdroppers seldom heard good tidings. "A noble elfling, highborn, sister to kings. Why is she here with no formal fostering request? You have so far refused to speak about her, save introductions. Tell me now." There was a long silence and Hiliel, not understanding made to move.
"Stay!" Yarna hissed at her and to her surprise she did as was ordered.
"An orphan," Curunír answered at once. He was lying, she thought and scowled at the floor. Orphans were missing two parents, somewhere she still had an Ada. "She is my apprentice. I brought her here to learn Westron and the customs of Gondor. Will you cease to observe me with suspicion when I say that Lord Glorfindel was opposed to her coming here? He relented for there are few wise left. Those with the power to understand what is rapidly being forgotten must be trained." Apprentice. She ran it through her mind repeatedly. No one had told her that.
"Not in my lifetime will she have any great power," the King said, almost too softly for her to hear through the stone. "I will send the letters to Lothlórien and an envoy to Arnor. I will not let the elves take away our sovereignty or abandon us, somehow they appear to be doing both." She heard no more and allowed Hiliel to pull her away from the floor.
"Listening to others is not polite." She shrugged, well aware that she was being told off for eavesdropping even if the rest of what Hiliel said was untranslatable to her.
"We go where?" Hiliel sighed and led her on. More corridors led to another staircase until they were in a passageway so narrow no one could easily use it. Yarna grinned to herself, this was the secret. Hiliel was stumbling towards the light at the end, unable to see whilst Yarna walked behind her supressing giggles.
The passageway ended in fresh air and they were above the city, standing in a tiny courtyard nestled against the cliff. It was a garden, less than two yards square with only enough room for a bench and some pots on the stone parapet that held lavenders, poppies and roses. Against the dull grey of the White Tower it was a little piece of beauty, nature clinging to the rocks.
Hiliel was smiling as she began to clip the roses, letting the dead heads fall hundreds of feet to the city below. Yarna ran a hand through the flowers then leaned as far as she could over the edge, looking at the horizon. Hiliel caught her collar and dragged her back a bit.
In the distance, mountains could be seen and behind them the dark skies of evening and clouds. Between the city and the mountains lay the river and beside it Osgiliath, sprawling and already lit for the night. It was far more beautiful than the city, for although the tower and height were impressive Yarna could see elegant turrets and domes by the river.
"See Osgiliath?" she asked Hiliel. "Please?"
"Soon, we will go and visit it. The King goes there often. Come, we must be back for supper." With one last look at the empty sky and the space where no one lived on the plains, Yarna allowed herself to be led back inside and they wound their way towards the fuller corridors until they reached their room.
Curunír was waiting for them, scowling as he stood at the flowery door.
"There you are," he said waspishly as if he had told her when to be back and she was late. She thought it unfair since no one had ever told her when to be back in her room, except for when Hiliel wanted her supper. "The King wants you to dine with him. Hurry up and change into something more befitting you." Hiliel stood back, looking afraid until Curunír have her quick orders in Westron and the wardrobe was pulled open. "Go, child. He will not wait." Hiliel pushed her behind a screen and began to pull off her black dress. There was far too much pushing and pulling and tugging for Yarna's liking all of a sudden but her protests went unheeded.
The red dress was not comfortable, it was even worse than the black one. The blue dress she had worn before at least looked like one of Alsea's ones, it had had trailing gauze and white pearls. The red one was cut down in a V instead of straight across and the arms were tight unlike elven dresses. It had black embroidery around the neck and a high silver belt. She hated it before Hiliel even put it on her.
"It will do." A brush was tugged through her hair and she reached up to braid it but Curunír snatched her hand away and drew her to the door.
"No! I am not going to go like this!" she yelled at them, loud enough to make Curunír drop her hand in surprise. She pulled her hair into the simplest braid she could, twisting it backwards and up. "I am still an elf, only Edain look like babies with no braids in front of important people." It still puzzled her why Men liked to wear their hair either short, for the lords, or long and loose. It was not unheard of for an elf to wear their hair down but they had to either be too important to care or busy running around. She wanted Mayra to be there to braid it, since she was better than Gandir had been.
"Are you done?" Curunír asked her. She did not think he looked too angry at her, holding out her hand as if she were a Lady. "Come along, Isoweniel. The King awaits."