Chapter Six
Estela rushed and talked to Elrond.
Elrond left, his heart pounding madly as he first contacted the Lady Galadriel and her husband Lord Celeborn, and they devised what to do. Estela herself knew that Gil-Galad would accept no proof until it was solid. Furthermore, if she so much as revealed herself and gave evidence or claim, no one would trust her- they would prefer to be blind and deaf than accept the word of a Fëanorian.
Something had to be done.
Inzilbêth could be trusted- she wasn't mistaken, nor was she lying. Estela, grabbed her cloak and weapons, and proceeded to call a meeting.
As predicted the reactions from the others were pure horror and total shock. Estela took a deep breath and explained to them the plan for the time being.
They looked incredulously at each other.
"Princess- Estela," one of them began. Her name was Maltariel and she had known Estela since their childhood in Valinor. "Are we to understand that you plan to divide us?"
"In order for this plan to work," Estela said rubbing her temples. "We have no other choice- we need to work many things at once and in many different places. We cannot just come out into the open- Gil-Galad, no matter how well-reasoned and charismatic- cannot accept any word from anyone without solid proof. We need to find that. Furthermore, we need to at least buy the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth some time. This we can achieve by infiltrating and causing discord from within, encouraging uprisings."
"But they are Númenóreans!" An elf called Fëapoldon exclaimed. "They will know we are elves."
"Not if we are careful enough to avoid them," Estela replied. "We will be infiltrating the colonies- not Númenor itself. Umbar is one of them- the lands of the Easterlings, Haradrim, Northmen, Variags and the others as well." She took a deep breath. "We can find out what's going on, bring back proof, cause discord, force them to reveal a hint of their doings at least to Lindon, Greenwood and the other realms." She took a deep breath. "I know that it is dangerous, one of the most dangerous tasks I have ever proposed any of us to do. And I swore to you, I will never exclude myself from any activity, nor ask you to do something I would not do myself. I also swore never to force any of you. So if you wish not to do so, I will not force you."
Everyone was silent. Then Vorondo spoke: "I think we all know we've decided long ago to follow you to the ends of Arda and beyond if need be."
Tulcano, her cousin smiled. Telperinquar, another cousin looked suspicious at the plan. "The King's Men are risking far too much," he declared. "But we need to do this we really don't have a choice."
"No," Estela agreed.
A few weeks later, in Rhûn …
Estela gazed outwards. She saw what was happening. Vorondo, as always, insisted on staying by her side. The others were there as well, covered in foliage as to blend in with the vegetation.
She held out her hand, ready for the signal.
Her emerald eyes watched as two Easterlings walked by, with light-coloured skin visible only in the light of the torches and through the black face-cloths they wore. They also wore gloves in burgundy, as well as matching tunics, trousers, and black leather boots, as well as finely-crafted armour: brass over-laying steel covering them almost everywhere.
Their armour looked heavy, but Estela knew that these were highly skilled and deadly fighters. Some women even fought alongside them men to protect their children and homes. The King's Men were wise to choose to settle here in Rhûn. Harad was poor and mostly barren dessert. Khand, the land of the Variags was mostly grassland, fit only to nourish animals, but Rhûn was fertile enough to feed not only the local tribes- whether they were nomadic horse-riders or civilisations in their sprawling empires- as well as any foreign army. But from what she could gather although hatred and bitter resentment were amongst the ranks of the peoples here, felt for their invaders, the King's Men had an iron grip. Furthermore, they were naturally suspicious of any foreigner.
Not that they needed to know they were being aided- or manipulated according to which point of view one looked at- by foreign powers. Estela had infiltrated them so deeply, and she had managed to do it very well. Yet she was also able to cover them up so that they had absolutely no idea, elves were involved.
And it would all start in a local tavern.
Well, if the Easterlings ever called it a 'tavern' that is. It was simply a place where men- no women patrons- went to eat, drink and enjoy themselves. The King's Men would be there as well, getting very drunk.
She smiled inwardly.
In that particular place, they were getting drunk. The King's Men were swilling down the local rice wines and fermented mare's milk that some people from Khand had brought in. They were roaring with laughter with some of the authorities- corrupt or related to the King's Men- and shouted insulting jests to some of the locals so much that one among their number, someone who served the tables, was hurriedly turning red.
The youth flushed as the men roared insults about the poorer members of the inhabitants of Rhûn, of which he was a part of. He had been born and raised poor, but he was proud and hard-working, and no one he had ever known was lazy, ugly or pathetic. His sister nearby also flushed.
The maid walked to the men placing huge cups of rice wine on the table. One of the King's Men took a swallow, and then spat it out as quickly as he had downed it.
"What," he asked dangerously, his face twisting into an ugly scowl, "is this?" he held up the empty cup to the girl.
The girl paled. The man stood slowly up and glared at the girl, still brandishing the empty cup.
"I asked for wine, girl," he said dangerously, slowly. "And you give me pig-swill."
The girl opened her mouth, but found that words could not come out her face became even more bloodless.
"Didn't I ask for wine?" the man asked. He suddenly grabbed the girl's arm and she cried out in shock and pain. "Answer me!"
One of the other men, a King's Man, sniggered. "You'd better beat her good, man, beat her like hell."
One of the Easterlings at the table smirked. "Use this," he said in heavily-accented Adûnaic, handing the first man a whip made of knotted leather with thorns imbedded in the prongs. The man grabbed it, his eyes shone with a wild light, and he raised the whip, but before he could even bring it down, an arrow suddenly protruded out of his left bicep. He screamed.
The others turned and directly behind him they saw the maid's brother, standing directly behind him, ready to intervene. It didn't even register in their drunken minds that he was holding no weapon they stood up and strode towards him, murder in their eyes-
Before someone came and punched the closest man in the face. He howled as his nose broke and started bleeding. The hooded figure then turned his attention to the other men who had frozen, then roared in rage and decided to attack.
He beat them easily and was soon joined by another hooded figure. Two elves hidden beneath hoods took on the men, while outside, the commotion was heard. The girl scrambled out shouting all that had happened in the streets and screaming for help. More people came, some were King's Men or under their employ, others were those that hated their tyrannical invasion and occupation. There were more elves beneath hoods with their weapons hidden but ready to be drawn, waiting for them outside the building. The girl running out and screaming was, in actuality, according to Estela's plan.
The King's Men and those working for them came and decided to help, in sizeable numbers, their comrades. But those who hated them ran forwards as well and they all clashed in the streets, the elves outside the building ready to stop anyone from harming the boy or their comrades inside. But there were some who interfered. While they were screaming and shouting insults as well as punching and kicking, the elves not only helped fuel the riots, they went inside the crowd. Estela was among them and she searched with sharp eyes, even for an elf, for a high-ranking King's Man. She spotted an important official- she could tell- on the outskirts of the throng. This would have to be done before her elves fuelled the mass public brawl into a full-scale riot. She crept silently through the crowd.
The official looked appalled. The Easterlings were famous for their metal-work, at best, rivalling the dwarves. This man was wearing a great deal of gold jewellery, enough to be ridiculously gaudy. He was a King's Man, but clearly took advantage of his position in the city to enrich himself and enjoy everything his position there had to offer. Estela drew her dagger underneath her cloak. She knew who this man was, she had found out everything to know about the officials in the city. She gestured to her elves in secret for them to fuel and spread the brawl even further.
Sure enough, the insults, screams and loud voices escalated. The punching and kicking was now joined by stabbing, slashing and so forth. The brawls spread, and Estela knew the man was in danger of leaving, she silently contacted a few eves with her mind and they understood. They were to surround the man and his retinue of body-guards and prevent them from leaving by bringing the crowds to them and surrounding them.
They were beginning to panic. Estela knew she had to act now before they would find it difficult to escape, even for an elf. She crept forwards, and the crowd came with her. The bodyguards of the man started trying every way they could to keep the crowds away which only enraged them. Then the litter they were carrying the man on fell down, a flurry of oriental silks. The man yelled before he fell down and found himself next to a hooded figure.
The crowd started attacking the bodyguards. Estela knew they would probably tear the man apart or else stampede him to death, and she wasn't that cruel. Despicable as some people were, better a quick death.
She drew out her dagger bent over quickly while the bodyguards were preoccupied (with her elves' help) and stabbed him. It didn't take long for him to die, she knew where to stab.
She melted back into the crowd.
It was disgusting- she would much rather take on whole orcs in a real battle, but now options were so limited, they weren't really options. She signalled her elves to withdraw and add to the crowd's rage.
She was inwardly shaken at her deed and wished with all her heart she could avoid such an act, but to save countless innocents, there was nothing better to do than to make the threat public to all of Middle-Earth, so that even the most stubborn and foolish were forced to see, this was merely phase one in the plan.
By morning, the man's body was recovered by the King's Men and the Easterlings working for them. They stared at it wordlessly. The governor and leader of the King's Men in the city gritted his teeth in rage and stamped out of the room. Then in a public square, a scaffold was erected. Ropes hung, the noose was ready for their victims- the maid and her brother.
Their parents sobbed in the front of the crowd. They weren't the only ones about to be hung- a merciful end compared to the other ways the King's Men dealt with their enemies, but still unjust. Members of the crowd were randomly picked and were about to be executed to show the locals that such uprisings would not be tolerated- these people would be examples of it.
They stood heads hanging on the scaffold beneath the ropes. The maid sobbed openly. Her brother lifted forlorn and hopeless eyes towards his parents in the crowd who sobbed harder. The governor bore his teeth in rage and lifted his hand, readying for the signal- except it never came.
The executioner had fitted the ropes around the victim's necks. He walked towards the end of the platform, ready to pull on the lever. But an arrow, suddenly imbedded itself deep inside his chest.
Suddenly all hell broke loose, armoured figures sprung out of nowhere, and Estela was amongst them, she jumped onto the scaffold, followed closely by Vorondo. She cut the ropes and they blinked and stared before she gestured for her elves to hurriedly take them- and the family who had watched. She then proceeded to cut down every soldier- King's Men or Easterling- that tried to attack them. Her elves joined her and soon she jumped onto a nearby platform with Vorondo and quickly dispatched the governor's body-guards and placed her sword right at the governor's throat.
"Who are you?" he snarled in Adûnaic.
Estela lifted her hood with one hand, baring her red hair and pointed ears. The governor's eyes were wide with shock.
"I am a shieldmaiden," she said in the same language. "That is all you need to know."
So the action finally starts! I'm pretty sure if you've watched the Lord of the Rings, you would have seen the Easterlings- even if they made a movie mistake and gave them the banner of the Haradrim to carry. However they are not all evil, they were manipulated into following Sauron because of their hatred to Gondor, like the Haradrim and the Dunlendings' feelings towards the people of Rohan. I can't imagine that rulers as stuck-up and arrogant as Denethor the Steward would have been popular with them, but Aragorn and Éomer later made peace with them. However, at this point they were being taken over by the corrupt Men of Númenor, also known as the King's Men.