Kizár Elená Durin · @SilmarilNaro
20th Mar 2015 from TwitLonger
Stone-verse: The White Tower.
After http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sl9p3f?new_post=true
Elennárë follows the trail of her senses and ends up in a serious discussion with Denethor.
@SilmarilNaro @Gyrfalconsheart
_________________________________________________________________________
Elennárë
Elennárë absently shifted her weight from one foot to another, softly humming a tune she knew no one would have clue to, as it was one from Elenaria's memories. The Lord Steward Denethor, the man carefully spread rumours implied was her father, had requested to speak with her before she headed out with Boromir and Kíli to the Hidden Kingdom in a few days. She had no idea why, and now was left waiting for him to have time for her.
She did wonder, was making her wait some manner of intimidation to make her more pliable? She knew he had a great tendency to know more than one could expect, even taking into account that he might have informants. He seemed to know secrets no one *should* know and certainly played on his all-knowing demeanour whenever he saw fit.
But that was not what was making her uneasy now. She could not pinpoint it but there was something in the Citadel that teased at the edges of her awareness, something faintly familiar that she wanted to work out, if only so she knew it was nothing to worry over.
Her humming absently shifted to another tune that might be a bit more recognisable, though perhaps only to folk who had spent time in Eriador and heard the music that passed around the sparse villages of the north. With it she drifted down the hall, ostensibly looking at hangings on the walls, but her attention remained on the annoying niggle.
She stopped for a moment, turning around twice to get a proper sense of direction, sure that whatever it was, it was definitely in the building. Something arcane, maybe like one of the artifacts Anvari had been fixing for various noble families that he had mentioned. Given that he had told her about the potentially dangerous helmet the Citadel Captain had asked him to deal with, she wondered if other dangerous or at least questionable remnants of Númenor were lurking in the building, in places that Boromir would not frequent, therefore failing to gain her notice in past years.
Her near-instinctive tracking brought her to an old door that she vaguely recalled was to a tower no longer used, but as she looked it over she noted that there was a lack of dust and a few scrapes most eyes would not spot. The door had been used recently, so it made her wonder, were some ancient treasures kept behind it that someone was sneaking in to fool around with?
As it was, she did not feel all that guilty as she carefully opened the door - which failed to squeak on it's hinges at all, so someone was keeping it oiled - and slipped inside, lightly climbing the stairs she found within, using a small lick of arcanely summoned fire to light her way. The feeling from behind door at the top of the stairs was even more nigglingly familiar - something from long ago she had trouble recalling - and it took trying to use an experimental idea she had come up with in her training in how to imitate some of the arcane tricks Elenaria had used in Thedas to get the heavy door to open for her.
The room had windows that showed views in almost all direction but was almost totally unfurnished expect for a table covered in a sheet of silky-looking fabric and a couple of simple chairs. Whatever had been disturbing her was there, in the centre of the table, under the cloth.
She reached out to pull back the cloth.
Denethor
"They say Berúthiel's cats were killed through their curiosity," a calm, if somewhat bemused voice came from a dark corner of the room. "and I would ask you to not repeat their mistake so easily."
Denethor stood in the corner by the dark window that looked North. The bay by the window was set in a way it could not be fully seen from the door. He had stood there to think when the young Lady had entered. His 'daughter'. When Baranor had come to him with the whole idea, he had hinted that her true parentage was dangerous, but that the rumour of her being Denethor's daughter, would nicely tie up some of the noble houses for a couple of years, while they tried to either ensnare her or work out what to do about her. It had been a good plan, and Denethor had not tried to pry Baranor's knowledge about her from him. If Baranor kept a secret he did keep it, like the secret what had happened to Findulas' murderers. Baranor took his secrets to the grave, and even the Lord of the Grave might better not ask. A trait Denethor had made use of before - and would likely again.
But when he had seen her, he knew he had seen her before. Not seen with the waking eye, but seen nonetheless. A bright light accompanying his son back from the dark lands, a presence with him... he had studied that presence for many years, and had long wondered what it might be. Now it had become a person.
Elennárë
"It strikes me as amusing you should mention her, I always felt sorry for the cats she kept as her slaves," Elennárë said as she privately worked to regain her composure from the mild scare his sudden quip had given her. "Though I do hope no one else's curiosity has them playing with... this," she turned to look at the stone again. "The Palantíri were notorious for being tricky to use, enough so that even their maker acknowledged that they may not have turned out according to his original intent."
Denethor
"Were the cats slaves or her co-conspirators?" Denethor asked. "I tend to think the latter, but then I do not readily trust cats." He walked closer, to take a seat by the table, inviting her to sit as well. "I do agree that mere curiosity is not enough reason to risk using the Seeing Stones," he replied. He had been surprised she had recognised the Stone for what it was, but then, she was not what she appeared to be either. Which made her an intriguing riddle. "Though I would compliment their maker for his work - what he achieved here was nothing short of miraculous - and just dangerous enough to prevent it's blatant use. Everything so powerful should come with danger, lest it be used unwisely, casually and at the worst damaging those who would use them ill-adevisedly."
Elennárë
"...And it was hardly his last miracle..." Elennárë murmured in Quenya as she walked around the table to stand on the southeastern side and looked at it with her head tilted in thought. "But yes, that was exactly the thought that drew me here in the first place, even if I did not know exactly what manner of item I was sensing. Why anyone in Valinor thought it was a sensible idea to send these to Númenor in the first place, but when the first king was a half-elf raised by Russandol and Cáno, and I doubt any of them bothered to ask Nerdanel *why* the Palantíri were left in Tirion when Fëanáro was exiled from the city."
Denethor
Hearing someone speak that fluently in the old tongue was a rare delight indeed and it did something to lighten Denethor's mood - though he already was enjoying the riddle his 'daughter' presented him with. "For beings that are knowing beyond what we imagine, the thought that the unfettered truth might be dangerous for human mind, would be foreign." he replied. "Maybe even for the elven mind as well. Truth - hard and all-encompassing as it is, can break the strongest mind and soul. Yet... what else have the Lords of the West ever done than to test our kind? To put things before to see what we do with them - and then punish us for acting wrongly."
Elennárë
Elennárë blinked and looked up from her contemplation of the Stone as she heard Denethor speak in Quenya, but then realised her whole rant about who gave the Palantíri had been in the language. Denethor had a few of the intricacies of the language off, but was otherwise reasonably good with it, so she did not see much issue with indulging in it some more. "The Valar would give people the basic tools and leave it to them to learn how to use them their own way. If any punishment came, it came through over-reaching themselves. As you said of the stone," she nodded at the palantír. "Dangerous for an untrained mind and risky even for a trained one."
She picked up the sheet from where it fell and draped it over the table as it was to start with. "The thought to look and see if one of the things I wish to go north to find out is true did occur to me, but with the only other known palantír between here and there... well I have a marked distrust for Wizards, and while I know less about Saruman, I am given to trust him as much as I do Gandalf - Mithrandir."
Denethor
"If I give my child a torch to play with, I should punish myself if the house burns down," Denethor replied, talking in the ancient elven tongue was challenging for him, but he rarely had the pleasure of a scholarly challenge these days. He liked to hear that she did not trust the wizards. "With Saruman I at least know where I stand," he replied after a moment. "he does not pretend to be a friendly one, like Mithrandir."
He looked at her, thinking of what she had said about the journey North and decided to reveal something. "It is hard to use one of the Seeing Stones and shield it from the influences of other stones, nor is it always successful, but it can be done. If two people use the stone in concert, the second person may remain hidden behind the first - thus unseen to those who are watching as well." He knew he confirmed that way, that he was using the Seeing Stone, that he had spend years studying and mastering it's secrets - and he appreciated the challenge and intricacy the great elven smith had wrought into it.
Elennárë
"Hmm, not an unreasonable concept," Elennárë mused. Though she and her sisters had some experience playing with the Seeing Stones, they had never seriously looked into true security concerns with them. "Have you had anyone to truly aid in viewing things through them? I would offer my own help in it, but I do know I have already promised to serve as Boromir's healer, and the journey north will take some time, considering I may be headed across to Forelindon, and if Thirán's folk agree to move, their passage south will not be as fast as our trek up there will have been."
Denethor
"No, I had no living mentor to teach me the secrets of the Stone," Denethor replied honestly. "though I found a number of books, from different sides and sources that deal with the topic. The writings of at least three different Kings of Númenor deal with the stone, then there is Aranalleine's "The Watches over the Waves" which is very insightful on the topic, and if one has the stomach to read "The Eye in the Dark" and disregard all passages that are about the glory of the darkness, one can pick up more than a few useful hints on the matter."
Denethor leaned back in his chair. "While I do - and will - appreciate your insights into the workings of the stone, I do deem it a wiser course that you stay with my son, Boromir, and watch over him. He has more need of your wisdom..." his eyes narrowed, "especially with the paths he is choosing."
Elennárë
"The greatest danger Boromir's path has is that he might come into conflict with those who believe they know what is best for Gondor than those of us who live here do. I have heard of the potential claimant of the throne and I am just as curious - and *concerned* - as Boromir as to whether he ever intends to make such a claim. I also wonder just how deeply involved in Mithrandir's plots he is, for that way can lead anyone who is not in Mithrandir's favour to death, because the Wizard is *too busy* with other matters."
Elennárë fell silent with a frown, looking again at the covered stone. "I do wonder if it could look through the Threads of Fate though. That other life was old enough to have seen the end of the war..."
Denethor
"I know Mithrandir wishes for Thorongil to make such claim - and he would not mind to see us weakened to a point where we will have naught but the choice to accept such a king gratefully." Denethor replied, it was strange but somehow comforting to be speak honestly to someone about this. "Two forces are tearing at this city - one are Mithrandir, his heir and their followers, the other is the Noble Council and their claim to power. My house stands in the middle, charged to keep this land safe, to make this land remember that they are Kingdom, the King's land... not some councils'... and also charged to make sure that a claimant to the throne is worthy of both crowns, to ensure that the King who ascends this throne does not become a worse choice than being without a King. In this moment I doubt both sides - the Noble Council would love to rule this land as an aristocracy unto themselves... and Thorongil is the pet of a wizard, not a King in his own right."
He looked at her. "But Boromir's dangers come from a third side as well - from entangling himself into the conflict for the dwarven High Throne."
Elennárë
Elennárë had to sigh as that was said. "If I truly understand Kíli's position in that whole mess, he would completely avoid ever engaging Dáin Ironfoot and leave Erebor to him, as long as Ironfoot leaves Kíli and his kin alone - whether that be the people of the Hidden Kingdom or Thirán's people, or even the few he hopes to meet up north." Something occurred to her as she spoke of those who counted as Kíli's kin. "In fact I would dare say that if he knew of Thirán, Dáin would see him as an equal or greater threat than even Kíli. Kíli was, ostensibly, the son of a sister while Thirán was a brother to the king whose throne Dáin took over."
Denethor
Denethor listened to her words, fascinated to learn that the unassuming dwarf named "Thirán" was indeed the famed brother of Thorin Oakenshield. Prince Frérin. An unexpected turn, but not a bad one. It could only strengthen the fact that the true line of Durin's House reigned South, not North.
"Have you ever looked at your friend with eyes beyond the mortal world?" he asked Elennárë. "he has a path before him - one that he may evade for a time, but fate has a tendency to assert itself in the end. Though even without planning in fate - the conflict will not be marching North to Dáin and his Kingdom in the wilds. But more of the fact that the day will come when Durin's true blood will rule a Kingdom in the South - and all chronicles claim that dwarrow are less tied to particular Kingdom or Mountain, but to the true line, when it comes down to it. Though... you make a good argument that if Thorin Oakenshield's brother still lives, he'd make a much more formidable King... and a much greater challenge for Dáin Ironfoot and his son."
Elennárë
"Do you know that for each choice we make in life there is another world for the choice we did not make?" Elennárë privately wondered what Denethor would think of the seeming non-sequitur. "I am presuming you know by now I have only had a human body for a short time, but at the time Kíli crafted the piece that allowed my change in form, he, myself, and Boromir as well experienced a vision of a life where I made a very significant choice differently. I have her memories, the memories of how my life could have gone if I had been just that bit more daring."
She picked at a corner of the sheet covering the table. "At the time she gave me her memories, she had stood by Kíli's side as his true destiny awoke within him. Yes, he has a great fate, and a past deeper than most. Thirán might make a good front to deflect attention, if needed, but the one who will do the great deeds will always be Kíli. That is what Aulë sent him into the world to do, not Thirán, not any other dwarf. And though it is perilous, one of the things that will give Kíli the strength to do what needs to be done is having his soulmate standing at his side through it, and I will be right there, beside the both of them, with both sword and fire if need be, to see they come out of it alive and whole."
Denethor
There was temper in her, fire and a strong will. Denethor looked at her and thought that she'd make a formidable Queen. "I know the theory of the threads of fate - of decisions shaping worlds - from an old elven philosopher's writings." he replied to her direct question. "And if you truly have the knowledge of how one other life might have spun out, you have a burden and a boon all in one. For you know things that may happen and you are trapped by waiting for them to happen."
He rose and walked up to her. "You presume I am in some form an enemy for your friend - and your chosen brother as well, in the destiny that awaits them. And I did not mention Thirán as a formidable presence because I wished to disparage that - but from knowing that sometimes destiny, fate, needs a specific moment, a specific time to happen." The was almost a smirk on his face know. "Though I think I should impress on my son, that he better be serious about this one."
Elennárë
"I do not wish to be an enemy either," Elennárë said, letting her temper calm somewhat. "I do want what is best for Gondor on a whole, what is best for Boromir, and for Kíli, and the dwarves of the Hidden Kingdom and Thirán's folk..." She stepped closer to Denethor. "Though yes, Boromir is serious about this one. This is his destiny and I only wish to see that he lives it out and is able to be happy. He is my brother, and I do not count him as any less so than my sisters, who out of all I have ever called siblings were the two who I was born with."
Denethor
"Then we are in agreement on many things - the rest will come, as time passes." Denethor replied, he filed the hint to her sisters away for later. "Why do we not dare and take that look at the threats of fate and your journey North, as you mentioned? I will ensure no one who is watching sees you, though I will see what you see."