Light Fingers 10 - To The Citadel
A visit uncovers the cause of Ivoreth's grief.
Chapter 10 - To The Citadel
Ivoreth hung onto Elrohir’s hand tightly as they walked the last few paces up the ramp and turned left into the wide courtyard at the very top of the city. Stories of the White Tree had been whispered late at night by those who claimed to have seen it, but nothing prepared her for the sight of the little tree in the grand courtyard, standing proudly green in the midst of it’s square of garden grass. The large fountain beside it sent the sound of falling water over the area, adding to the feeling of peace and security to be found there - and Ivoreth would have been very happy to wait there patiently while Elladan and his brother visited their sister without her.
She heard Raini give a gasp; she turned to see what was wrong and then followed her sister’s awestruck gaze out between two of the towers at the edge of the world at the sights below. Before her stretched a sight she’d never imagined before - green fields and mountains in the distance beneath a gentle blue sky. She was so caught up in the sight that her steps slowed, and her hesitation forced Elrohir to look down at her, first in concern and then in amusement. “It is magnificent, isn’t it?” he chuckled.
Ivoreth couldn’t begin to put words to what she was seeing, and so just nodded with her mouth still open in shock. A gentle tug on her hand soon brought her attention back to watching where she was being taken. Behind the White Tree, a tall tower stood guard over the entire city, and she twisted her neck to peer up at its heights. The base of the tower was all of white stone, with figures of people carved into shallow alcoves all along the sides. They all looked so sad and serious, staring out into the distance, Ivoreth decided - although what they stared out at was more wonderful than anything she’d ever seen.
They went around the tower toward yet another huge building, this one with an ornate front and what looked to be gardens to both the left and right. At either side of the heavy doorway, Guards in gleaming armor held long spears crossed to stop anyone from entering. Ivoreth swallowed hard as they came closer, but Elladan didn’t hesitate. At a single word, the Guards pulled in their weapons to allow the little group entry into a quiet hallway of dark wooden walls covered with richly colorful tapestries and sometimes a statue in front of a window. Elladan greeted a man dressed in elegant black and silver, and then they all followed him down the hallway and up a set of wide stairs into a comfortable room with windows that overlooked one of the side gardens.
The woman who rose to greet them caught Ivoreth’s attention and held it spellbound. Tall and slender as Celebriel, but with dark hair instead of the shimmering silver, she moved toward them with quick steps. “I’m so glad you’ve come!” she exclaimed. She put her arm around Elrohir and hugged him tightly before repeating the gesture with Elladan. She tucked a finger under Raini’s chin. “What a precious child!” she said in a voice that reminded Ivoreth of a bell’s chiming, and then kissed Raini on the cheek.
“And this is Ivoreth,” Elladan turned after freeing his hand from his sister and putting it out for Ivoreth to come take. Elrohir loosed his hold on Ivoreth and gave her a slight nudge to get her to go to her foster father. “Ivoreth, this is my sister, Arwen.”
Arwen? Where have I heard that name before?
Remembering the way some of the servants at Elladan’s apartments acted, Ivoreth gave a clumsy curtsey and then looked up into blue-grey eyes very much like her foster-father’s.
“Ivoreth.” Arwen put out a hand in invitation; and after a quick glance up at Elladan for his reassuring nod, Ivoreth stepped forward and put herself into the beautiful lady’s control. “Elladan has told me so much about you. I’m glad to meet you before he takes you away.”
Completely at a loss as to how to answer, Ivoreth blushed and studied the way the tips of her slippers poked out from beneath the hem of her fancy new gown that had arrived only just the evening before.
“Come. Sit with me.” The beautiful lady drew Ivoreth over to a lightly cushioned couch to sit side by side, and then with a deceptively strong arm, pulled her close to her side. “She is still very thin, brother,” she remarked to Elladan, who had seated himself in a comfortable chair near the broad hearth.
“She was much, much thinner - starving, really - when she entered the Houses of Healing, Arwen. Since then, she’s slowly been getting stronger,” Elladan replied with a smile for Ivoreth after loosing Raini to toddle over to a window and stare out onto the garden. “Father’s cooks will have a field day tempting her to try new things, however - which will be good. They need a new challenge every few decades.”
“So, what do you think of your new home?” Arwen turned her attention to Ivoreth. “Have my brothers made sure that you have everything you and Raini need?”
“Yes,” Ivoreth smiled and nodded. She had everything she needed and more now - warm food in her stomach several times a day and a warm and safe place to sleep at night.
“Do you know,” Arwen began in a very friendly tone, wrapping her arm about Ivoreth’s shoulder, “that I am in charge of the orphanages that my brother tells me frighten you so badly.”
Ivoreth cringed. You are? She shot a desperate look at Elladan. I thought we were family! You promised!
“She’s still terrified of them,” Elladan spoke for her firmly, and let his fond gaze answer the desperation in Ivoreth. “She’s not going to take you away from me, little one.”
“Remember, we talked about this yesterday?” Elrohir added. “I told you that she wanted to help any others trapped like you and Raini were?”
Oh yes. I remember now.
“Oh, Ivoreth! I would never take you away from my brother!” Arwen exclaimed with a shake of the head. “Besides, orphanages are supposed to help those with no one. You have a new father and a family now to take care of you.”
The relief from Arwen’s reassurance was almost crushing. Ivoreth swallowed back the sob pushing up into her throat and forced herself to keep her eyes focused on her hands folded in her lap. Arwen’s arms pulled her into an embrace. “I never dreamed that anyone would be so afraid of getting the help they needed. After Elladan told me some of the stories you said your father told you, I spoke to Faramir, our Steward, and he found the records of the trial of two orphanage wardens who were doing exactly what your father’s stories told of. They ended up exiled from the city and doing hard labor for many years.”
Ivoreth pulled away to raise her head and stare at the beautiful lady. “They were judged for that?”
Arwen nodded. “What they did was monstrous, Ivoreth. The orphanages are my responsibility, and I have made certain that all of the wardens understand that the mistreatment of any children in their care will be most harshly punished.”
“So…” Ivoreth’s mind struggled to accept what she was being told. “Nobody is sold as a slave?”
Arwen shook her head. “No - at least, not to my knowledge. If I ever found out that anyone had purchased a child, I would seek out that person and reclaim the child immediately. If the child has been mistreated, then the one who paid for them will also be punished. Slavery is illegal in Gondor - and it will not be tolerated when discovered. I can understand that you and some of the other children have been frightened because of what came before, but I’ve done everything I could to make certain it never happens again. Do you see?”
Who is she that she can do such things? I thought the Queen was in charge of the orphanages.
Ivoreth nodded after a long moment of thinking. If what Elladan’s sister said was true, then maybe they didn’t need to be so afraid down in the cistern anymore.
“So,” Arwen continued, “can you also understand that I want to help any other children who are afraid to go to the orphanages for help?”
Ivoreth nodded again. She seemed such a wise as well as beautiful lady - and she didn’t look as if she were telling stories just to put her off her guard.
“How many others are there?” Arwen asked softly.
Ivoreth looked away to her hands again. “Some…” she replied vaguely.
“How do they live? What do they eat?”
Ivoreth began picking at a spot on the palm of one hand. “We… they… steal sometimes… or pick through the trash piles when people aren’t watching.”
“Don’t they get caught?” Arwen asked with a slight frown.
Daren!
Ivoreth nodded silently and sniffed. Across from her, she heard Elladan shift in his chair and knew that he understood what she was thinking.
“Did you have someplace to stay - some kind of shelter?”
Again Ivoreth nodded wordlessly.
“Where?”
This time, she shook her head slowly.
You’re very nice, and I think you really do want to help - but you just don’t understand what it’s like for us… for them. They have nowhere else to go, and no reason to trust anything you say.
“I swear to you that nobody will harm them or take them away. Won’t you please tell me where they are?” Arwen’s tone was soft and wistful.
Ivoreth slowly looked up and into concerned blue-grey. Arwen seemed so very sincere, she couldn’t just not answer her. “They won’t understand, and they won’t stay around to listen to what you have to say. The only time anybody pays attention to us is when they think we’ve done something wrong. Then they call the Guards, and they take us away to prison to die.” She looked back down at her hands again. “Nobody wants us or wants to listen to us.”
Arwen grasped both of Ivoreth’s hands and squeezed. “But you see, I do want to listen - to help.”
Ivoreth nodded slowly, feeling torn. “I can’t… I just can’t.” She had the horrible feeling that even though she was protecting Jarem and the others in one way, she was betraying them in another - and the weight of that choice was a heavy one. There was no good choice.
“Perhaps we’re going at this the wrong way,” Elrohir finally offered from where he had leaned his arm on the mantle over the hearth. “If these children - and they are just children, are they not, Ivoreth?” Ivoreth nodded. “Then, if these children have no way of trusting any obvious help from any adults, is there some indirect way in which we could reach them one by one - maybe just to improve their situation enough that they can begin to trust again?”
“We could make certain they had at least enough to eat. If they didn’t feel they had to steal just to survive, they wouldn’t have to fear the Guards taking them away,” Elladan offered after a moment to consider.
“The Guards don’t always have to have a reason,” Ivoreth said bitterly. “They took Daren away just because Garlain pointed to him and said he’d stolen some of his bread. All he was doing was playing with a group of his friends in a corner - I saw them just before…” Her throat thickened again, and she began to cry. “The Guards always believe what the adults tell them, even when it’s a lie - and they don’t care about what we have to say. And then, we never hear or see them again. And then Raini was so sick…”
Elladan was on his knee in front of her. “Ivoreth! Little one! I thought that Daren was lost to you long ago. You mean to say that this happened just a little while ago?” Ivoreth leaned forward into his arms, put her head on his shoulder and nodded. “How long ago, sweetling?”
“The day I brought Raini up because she was sick.” Ivoreth hid her face in Elladan’s hair. “I found out somebody snitched the coins for Raini’s medicine - and the Jarem came and told me that Daren had been taken with Samul and the others. That night, Raini got so bad…” She shuddered, remembering the horror of that day - the decision to give up her own life to save at least one of her brothers and sisters.
“Merciful Elbereth!” Elladan wrapped her in his arms and held her close. “No wonder…”
“Beloved,” Arwen’s ringing voice sounded, and then Ivoreth felt the beautiful lady rising her feet and moving to greet someone who had come into the room behind Elladan.
“What is going on here? I thought this was going to be a friendly family get-together,” a voice even deeper and richer than Elladan’s exclaimed in surprise. “I was expecting a midday meal with a happy family. Arwen…”
Stunned out of her tears, Ivoreth raised her head to stare at Arwen standing in the arms of the King, who was staring back at her in surprise and concern. Gone were the rich robes and the circlet - Elessar looked no greater or more powerful than Elladan or Elrohir.
“Ivo sad?” Raini toddled away from her window and toward her big sister.
“It seems there has been a misunderstanding, Estel,” Elrohir stated as he moved forward to catch Raini. “Ivoreth is all right, Raini - she’s just worried about Daren.”
“Daren gone,” Raini said, her little face falling. “Guards make dead.” She leaned her head against Elrohir’s shoulder sadly.
Ivoreth shuddered again in Elladan’s arms.
Elessar frowned. “Who is Daren?”
“Daren is Ivoreth’s little brother,” Arwen stated helpfully. “Remember, Elladan told us that the girl he was helping had other brothers and sisters who hadn’t survived. He thought that Daren had been taken by Guards a long time ago - but evidently it happened recently, only a little over ten days ago. ”
“How quickly does justice happen for little boys taken by the Guards for petty theft - and just what is the penalty?” Elladan demanded between efforts to console Ivoreth.
Elessar cast his hands out. “I have no idea - I’ve never needed to know before now. When I was here years ago, I was more concerned with keeping the city safe from attack - not overseeing the court system.”
“Then the child might still be locked away?” Elrohir asked pointedly.
Ivoreth raised her head from Elladan’s shoulder to look pleadingly at the King. “He might still be alive?” she breathed, barely daring to hope.
Elessar came closer to her. “He must be. Gondor doesn’t kill her children. How old was the boy, anyway?”
“Seven,” she whispered.
They do too kill children. They do it all the time.
“And he was taken away for stealing?” the King pressed on.
Ivoreth nodded. “Garlain complained that he… we… were taking his day-old bread. But Daren wouldn’t…” She paused, certain that she wouldn’t be believed this time. “I never let him do any of that - he wasn’t careful about watching for the Guards. But he was good at going through the trash piles.” Her voice shone with pride for the way her little brother had helped the three of them survive. “He found clothes for us sometimes.”
Elessar was frowning now, and Ivoreth shrank back into her guardian’s shoulder. “You’re telling me that it’s possible this child was taken away without having done anything to deserve… This seven-year-old child…”
“They picked up four of them,” Ivoreth told him in a small voice. “Samul is six, Bran and Davit were seven, like Daren.” The look in Elessar’s eyes scared her badly. “I’m sorry…” she whispered and hid her face in Elladan’s hair again.
“Estel, you’re frightening the girl!” Arwen scolded and came back to her seat to rub small circles on Ivoreth’s back.
“I’m…” Elessar hesitated for a moment, and whirled to leave the room abruptly.
“Did I do something wrong again?” Ivoreth asked, resigning herself to whatever punishment the King might have in store for her.
In Elrohir’s arms, Raini squirmed in an attempt to get to her big sister and whimpered when she remained caught in a firm but gentle hold. “Wan’ Ivo!” she insisted, beginning to cry. “Ivo need me.”
What have I done?
Chapter 10 - To The Citadel
Ivoreth hung onto Elrohir’s hand tightly as they walked the last few paces up the ramp and turned left into the wide courtyard at the very top of the city. Stories of the White Tree had been whispered late at night by those who claimed to have seen it, but nothing prepared her for the sight of the little tree in the grand courtyard, standing proudly green in the midst of it’s square of garden grass. The large fountain beside it sent the sound of falling water over the area, adding to the feeling of peace and security to be found there - and Ivoreth would have been very happy to wait there patiently while Elladan and his brother visited their sister without her.
She heard Raini give a gasp; she turned to see what was wrong and then followed her sister’s awestruck gaze out between two of the towers at the edge of the world at the sights below. Before her stretched a sight she’d never imagined before - green fields and mountains in the distance beneath a gentle blue sky. She was so caught up in the sight that her steps slowed, and her hesitation forced Elrohir to look down at her, first in concern and then in amusement. “It is magnificent, isn’t it?” he chuckled.
Ivoreth couldn’t begin to put words to what she was seeing, and so just nodded with her mouth still open in shock. A gentle tug on her hand soon brought her attention back to watching where she was being taken. Behind the White Tree, a tall tower stood guard over the entire city, and she twisted her neck to peer up at its heights. The base of the tower was all of white stone, with figures of people carved into shallow alcoves all along the sides. They all looked so sad and serious, staring out into the distance, Ivoreth decided - although what they stared out at was more wonderful than anything she’d ever seen.
They went around the tower toward yet another huge building, this one with an ornate front and what looked to be gardens to both the left and right. At either side of the heavy doorway, Guards in gleaming armor held long spears crossed to stop anyone from entering. Ivoreth swallowed hard as they came closer, but Elladan didn’t hesitate. At a single word, the Guards pulled in their weapons to allow the little group entry into a quiet hallway of dark wooden walls covered with richly colorful tapestries and sometimes a statue in front of a window. Elladan greeted a man dressed in elegant black and silver, and then they all followed him down the hallway and up a set of wide stairs into a comfortable room with windows that overlooked one of the side gardens.
The woman who rose to greet them caught Ivoreth’s attention and held it spellbound. Tall and slender as Celebriel, but with dark hair instead of the shimmering silver, she moved toward them with quick steps. “I’m so glad you’ve come!” she exclaimed. She put her arm around Elrohir and hugged him tightly before repeating the gesture with Elladan. She tucked a finger under Raini’s chin. “What a precious child!” she said in a voice that reminded Ivoreth of a bell’s chiming, and then kissed Raini on the cheek.
“And this is Ivoreth,” Elladan turned after freeing his hand from his sister and putting it out for Ivoreth to come take. Elrohir loosed his hold on Ivoreth and gave her a slight nudge to get her to go to her foster father. “Ivoreth, this is my sister, Arwen.”
Arwen? Where have I heard that name before?
Remembering the way some of the servants at Elladan’s apartments acted, Ivoreth gave a clumsy curtsey and then looked up into blue-grey eyes very much like her foster-father’s.
“Ivoreth.” Arwen put out a hand in invitation; and after a quick glance up at Elladan for his reassuring nod, Ivoreth stepped forward and put herself into the beautiful lady’s control. “Elladan has told me so much about you. I’m glad to meet you before he takes you away.”
Completely at a loss as to how to answer, Ivoreth blushed and studied the way the tips of her slippers poked out from beneath the hem of her fancy new gown that had arrived only just the evening before.
“Come. Sit with me.” The beautiful lady drew Ivoreth over to a lightly cushioned couch to sit side by side, and then with a deceptively strong arm, pulled her close to her side. “She is still very thin, brother,” she remarked to Elladan, who had seated himself in a comfortable chair near the broad hearth.
“She was much, much thinner - starving, really - when she entered the Houses of Healing, Arwen. Since then, she’s slowly been getting stronger,” Elladan replied with a smile for Ivoreth after loosing Raini to toddle over to a window and stare out onto the garden. “Father’s cooks will have a field day tempting her to try new things, however - which will be good. They need a new challenge every few decades.”
“So, what do you think of your new home?” Arwen turned her attention to Ivoreth. “Have my brothers made sure that you have everything you and Raini need?”
“Yes,” Ivoreth smiled and nodded. She had everything she needed and more now - warm food in her stomach several times a day and a warm and safe place to sleep at night.
“Do you know,” Arwen began in a very friendly tone, wrapping her arm about Ivoreth’s shoulder, “that I am in charge of the orphanages that my brother tells me frighten you so badly.”
Ivoreth cringed. You are? She shot a desperate look at Elladan. I thought we were family! You promised!
“She’s still terrified of them,” Elladan spoke for her firmly, and let his fond gaze answer the desperation in Ivoreth. “She’s not going to take you away from me, little one.”
“Remember, we talked about this yesterday?” Elrohir added. “I told you that she wanted to help any others trapped like you and Raini were?”
Oh yes. I remember now.
“Oh, Ivoreth! I would never take you away from my brother!” Arwen exclaimed with a shake of the head. “Besides, orphanages are supposed to help those with no one. You have a new father and a family now to take care of you.”
The relief from Arwen’s reassurance was almost crushing. Ivoreth swallowed back the sob pushing up into her throat and forced herself to keep her eyes focused on her hands folded in her lap. Arwen’s arms pulled her into an embrace. “I never dreamed that anyone would be so afraid of getting the help they needed. After Elladan told me some of the stories you said your father told you, I spoke to Faramir, our Steward, and he found the records of the trial of two orphanage wardens who were doing exactly what your father’s stories told of. They ended up exiled from the city and doing hard labor for many years.”
Ivoreth pulled away to raise her head and stare at the beautiful lady. “They were judged for that?”
Arwen nodded. “What they did was monstrous, Ivoreth. The orphanages are my responsibility, and I have made certain that all of the wardens understand that the mistreatment of any children in their care will be most harshly punished.”
“So…” Ivoreth’s mind struggled to accept what she was being told. “Nobody is sold as a slave?”
Arwen shook her head. “No - at least, not to my knowledge. If I ever found out that anyone had purchased a child, I would seek out that person and reclaim the child immediately. If the child has been mistreated, then the one who paid for them will also be punished. Slavery is illegal in Gondor - and it will not be tolerated when discovered. I can understand that you and some of the other children have been frightened because of what came before, but I’ve done everything I could to make certain it never happens again. Do you see?”
Who is she that she can do such things? I thought the Queen was in charge of the orphanages.
Ivoreth nodded after a long moment of thinking. If what Elladan’s sister said was true, then maybe they didn’t need to be so afraid down in the cistern anymore.
“So,” Arwen continued, “can you also understand that I want to help any other children who are afraid to go to the orphanages for help?”
Ivoreth nodded again. She seemed such a wise as well as beautiful lady - and she didn’t look as if she were telling stories just to put her off her guard.
“How many others are there?” Arwen asked softly.
Ivoreth looked away to her hands again. “Some…” she replied vaguely.
“How do they live? What do they eat?”
Ivoreth began picking at a spot on the palm of one hand. “We… they… steal sometimes… or pick through the trash piles when people aren’t watching.”
“Don’t they get caught?” Arwen asked with a slight frown.
Daren!
Ivoreth nodded silently and sniffed. Across from her, she heard Elladan shift in his chair and knew that he understood what she was thinking.
“Did you have someplace to stay - some kind of shelter?”
Again Ivoreth nodded wordlessly.
“Where?”
This time, she shook her head slowly.
You’re very nice, and I think you really do want to help - but you just don’t understand what it’s like for us… for them. They have nowhere else to go, and no reason to trust anything you say.
“I swear to you that nobody will harm them or take them away. Won’t you please tell me where they are?” Arwen’s tone was soft and wistful.
Ivoreth slowly looked up and into concerned blue-grey. Arwen seemed so very sincere, she couldn’t just not answer her. “They won’t understand, and they won’t stay around to listen to what you have to say. The only time anybody pays attention to us is when they think we’ve done something wrong. Then they call the Guards, and they take us away to prison to die.” She looked back down at her hands again. “Nobody wants us or wants to listen to us.”
Arwen grasped both of Ivoreth’s hands and squeezed. “But you see, I do want to listen - to help.”
Ivoreth nodded slowly, feeling torn. “I can’t… I just can’t.” She had the horrible feeling that even though she was protecting Jarem and the others in one way, she was betraying them in another - and the weight of that choice was a heavy one. There was no good choice.
“Perhaps we’re going at this the wrong way,” Elrohir finally offered from where he had leaned his arm on the mantle over the hearth. “If these children - and they are just children, are they not, Ivoreth?” Ivoreth nodded. “Then, if these children have no way of trusting any obvious help from any adults, is there some indirect way in which we could reach them one by one - maybe just to improve their situation enough that they can begin to trust again?”
“We could make certain they had at least enough to eat. If they didn’t feel they had to steal just to survive, they wouldn’t have to fear the Guards taking them away,” Elladan offered after a moment to consider.
“The Guards don’t always have to have a reason,” Ivoreth said bitterly. “They took Daren away just because Garlain pointed to him and said he’d stolen some of his bread. All he was doing was playing with a group of his friends in a corner - I saw them just before…” Her throat thickened again, and she began to cry. “The Guards always believe what the adults tell them, even when it’s a lie - and they don’t care about what we have to say. And then, we never hear or see them again. And then Raini was so sick…”
Elladan was on his knee in front of her. “Ivoreth! Little one! I thought that Daren was lost to you long ago. You mean to say that this happened just a little while ago?” Ivoreth leaned forward into his arms, put her head on his shoulder and nodded. “How long ago, sweetling?”
“The day I brought Raini up because she was sick.” Ivoreth hid her face in Elladan’s hair. “I found out somebody snitched the coins for Raini’s medicine - and the Jarem came and told me that Daren had been taken with Samul and the others. That night, Raini got so bad…” She shuddered, remembering the horror of that day - the decision to give up her own life to save at least one of her brothers and sisters.
“Merciful Elbereth!” Elladan wrapped her in his arms and held her close. “No wonder…”
“Beloved,” Arwen’s ringing voice sounded, and then Ivoreth felt the beautiful lady rising her feet and moving to greet someone who had come into the room behind Elladan.
“What is going on here? I thought this was going to be a friendly family get-together,” a voice even deeper and richer than Elladan’s exclaimed in surprise. “I was expecting a midday meal with a happy family. Arwen…”
Stunned out of her tears, Ivoreth raised her head to stare at Arwen standing in the arms of the King, who was staring back at her in surprise and concern. Gone were the rich robes and the circlet - Elessar looked no greater or more powerful than Elladan or Elrohir.
“Ivo sad?” Raini toddled away from her window and toward her big sister.
“It seems there has been a misunderstanding, Estel,” Elrohir stated as he moved forward to catch Raini. “Ivoreth is all right, Raini - she’s just worried about Daren.”
“Daren gone,” Raini said, her little face falling. “Guards make dead.” She leaned her head against Elrohir’s shoulder sadly.
Ivoreth shuddered again in Elladan’s arms.
Elessar frowned. “Who is Daren?”
“Daren is Ivoreth’s little brother,” Arwen stated helpfully. “Remember, Elladan told us that the girl he was helping had other brothers and sisters who hadn’t survived. He thought that Daren had been taken by Guards a long time ago - but evidently it happened recently, only a little over ten days ago. ”
“How quickly does justice happen for little boys taken by the Guards for petty theft - and just what is the penalty?” Elladan demanded between efforts to console Ivoreth.
Elessar cast his hands out. “I have no idea - I’ve never needed to know before now. When I was here years ago, I was more concerned with keeping the city safe from attack - not overseeing the court system.”
“Then the child might still be locked away?” Elrohir asked pointedly.
Ivoreth raised her head from Elladan’s shoulder to look pleadingly at the King. “He might still be alive?” she breathed, barely daring to hope.
Elessar came closer to her. “He must be. Gondor doesn’t kill her children. How old was the boy, anyway?”
“Seven,” she whispered.
They do too kill children. They do it all the time.
“And he was taken away for stealing?” the King pressed on.
Ivoreth nodded. “Garlain complained that he… we… were taking his day-old bread. But Daren wouldn’t…” She paused, certain that she wouldn’t be believed this time. “I never let him do any of that - he wasn’t careful about watching for the Guards. But he was good at going through the trash piles.” Her voice shone with pride for the way her little brother had helped the three of them survive. “He found clothes for us sometimes.”
Elessar was frowning now, and Ivoreth shrank back into her guardian’s shoulder. “You’re telling me that it’s possible this child was taken away without having done anything to deserve… This seven-year-old child…”
“They picked up four of them,” Ivoreth told him in a small voice. “Samul is six, Bran and Davit were seven, like Daren.” The look in Elessar’s eyes scared her badly. “I’m sorry…” she whispered and hid her face in Elladan’s hair again.
“Estel, you’re frightening the girl!” Arwen scolded and came back to her seat to rub small circles on Ivoreth’s back.
“I’m…” Elessar hesitated for a moment, and whirled to leave the room abruptly.
“Did I do something wrong again?” Ivoreth asked, resigning herself to whatever punishment the King might have in store for her.
In Elrohir’s arms, Raini squirmed in an attempt to get to her big sister and whimpered when she remained caught in a firm but gentle hold. “Wan’ Ivo!” she insisted, beginning to cry. “Ivo need me.”
What have I done?