"Several parts of this mystery have puzzled me from the beginning," Frodo said the next day; by arrangement, his friends had all gathered in the sitting room in the royal chambers. They sat around him--King and Queen, Steward and his Lady, Gandalf and Merry--waiting eagerly to hear his explanation of who had placed the body of the Elf in the wall beneath the citadel, and why.
"One thing that puzzled me," he began. "The old folklore of the city has it that an appearance of the ghost presages a death or other disaster, especially for the families of the kings and stewards. Faramir thinks it's all superstitious bosh, and after some consideration, I agree that he's right. One of the Elves may have cursed Ciryaher's line and Aiglemerth's too, but both their lines ended long ago. Neither Faramir nor Strider is a descendent of that other king and steward."
Faramir smiled. "I'm pleased to hear I am in no danger."
Frodo returned the smile. "But you must admit that the ghost is bound to them somehow? He only appears in the street across from our house, Aiglemerth's house."
"That's where his body was hidden, where we found it," said Faramir. "It's no marvel that he should walk there."
"Yes, but it's more than that," Frodo replied. "I believe he's bound to that house and its residents. He's often seen by people who dwell in it. It's where he was lodged during the last days of his life, and where his murderer and betrayer lived. He made one of his earliest appearances, if not the very first, to Aiglemerth himself, after his son Aigande's death."
These last sentences caused a mild sensation, but everyone knew that Frodo suspected Lord Aiglemerth.
"Another thing wasn't right: Whenever I tried to match what I saw in my dreams with known facts, they didn't fit." Frodo placed a hand at his throat, where a pin would clasp the collar of cloak. "That green brooch found with the body puzzled me very much. It must've belonged to the murdered Elf. He was wearing it when his body was concealed, and almost certainly when he was killed--but the Elf in my dreams isn't.
"It was stupid of me not to understand, even after I learned that there were two Elves. You see, don't you?" He looked up at the people seated around him, and could see that they didn't. "The Elf in my dreams isn't the ghost, but the other one! I think I only ever saw the ghost himself in my dreams once, that first time. Even then, I can't be sure--it was always a tall, fair, and slender figure in a gray cloak. I didn't see his face."
His audience continued to look perplexed. "Was it Dadenmiel who was murdered, not Elspar?" asked Eowyn. "Or is it the other way around?"
"I've confused the two myself often enough," Frodo answered, with a little laugh. "When I first began to dream of the Elf who went into the citadel through the tunnels, I believed I was meant to witness the murder as it was committed. But another thing that puzzled me was how I saw it all. The Elf knew I followed him. He spoke to me once, but his words made no sense. They were quite odd. He said, 'Do you think this is your errand? Will you safeguard me to my destination, when I alone am summoned?' I wondered if he were really speaking to me."
"Those words were meant for someone else," Gandalf said.
"Yes, precisely! Someone he met in the street that night, just before he went into the citadel. I wondered for a time if he might be speaking to his murderer. Well, that was wrong. The Elf wasn't wary or suspicious of the person he was speaking to. He seemed almost amused to find someone had followed him. He sounded as if he were being offered protection, and doubted he needed it." It was the type of offer Frodo had heard countless times himself these past years from the people who loved him, who saw his illness and wanted to help him... and especially from the one person who loved him best and wanted nothing more than to look after him. How often had they had similar conversations--Sam fussing, and he replying in that tolerant, affectionate tone, letting himself be protected even when he didn't think he needed it?
He felt a sudden pang of unbearable longing at the memories, and quashed it. No, he wouldn't think of Sam now. He went on, speaking quickly, "There was only one person he would speak to that way--his beloved companion. Elspar. It was Dadenmiel, not Elspar, who was summoned back to the citadel for a private conference that night. It's Dadenmiel I see, through Elspar's eyes. I am seeing how he followed Dadenmiel through the tunnels into the citadel to try and safeguard him, and how he was killed for it."
"But why?" asked Arwen, her eyes wide with horror. "They disagreed. They were sent away. Why spill their blood over it?"
"That will be a bit difficult to explain, my lady, but I will do my best. To begin with, Elspar and Dadenmiel were not the only two who were beloved of each other in this sad story. King Ciryaher and his friend Aigande were also- ah-more than friends." In spite of himself, Frodo blushed even as he spoke this delicate phrase before such great ladies and lords.
"Such was whispered of them, even in their own day," Faramir confirmed. "The nature of Ciryaher's love for Aigande is often hinted in the old histories--you must have read them yourself, Frodo--but it has never been the way of the Men of Gondor to speak of these matters openly."
"No," Frodo agreed, "nor hobbits. Not the way the Elves do. It must have been a shock to the people of Minas Anor to see what the two Elven emissaries were to each other. Some perhaps envied the freedom they had. They didn't have to keep their love a secret, nor live their lives in whispers for fear of scandal or shame. I think Aigande felt that way. It's my belief that while the Elves were guests in his father's home, Aigande spoke with them often, befriended them. He was attracted by their ways and he grew sympathetic to their cause. He took their part against his father, and advised the King to aid them. I suspect that, in the end, he may have intended to go with them, even if Ciryaher did not send other Men to Dol Goldur.
"You must understand that the rest is only guesses. I've no proof that a word I say is true. What I think happened is this: If it had simply been a matter of disagreement over Mirkwood, I believe that it would have ended once the King dismissed the Elves. They would have gone away unaided, but unharmed. But Aigande made the problem more complicated, and made their quarrel with the Elves more personal for both his father and the King. Ciryaher, of course, would want his beloved to stay with him. And Aigande's father... well, Lord Aiglemerth mightn't have understood his son's love for the young King. He may have been horrified by the Elves' open love for each other, and terribly afraid that his son should be seduced away by them. He'd want to put a stop to it.
"From the fragment of conversation I overheard in my dreams, I think it was Lord Aiglemerth who called Dadenmiel to the citadel for one last meeting after the King had sent both Elves away. Perhaps he acted with the King's authority, or perhaps the King didn't know what his steward planned. I don't know what Lord Aiglemerth asked of Dadenmiel, but I can guess it was one of two things: Either he wanted Dadenmiel to spurn Aigande's offer to accompany them, or else Dadenmiel was to work against Elspar somehow so that he wouldn't let Aigande join them."
"But why invite Dadenmiel?" asked Gandalf. "He was the younger of the two Elves, the subordinate. It might have been more effective to confront Elspar directly."
"Perhaps," said Frodo, "but Aiglemerth may have chosen Dadenmiel because he thought the younger Elf would be more impressionable and easy to sway. The accounts of their final meeting with the King aren't specific, but I'm sure Elspar was the Elf who said 'on your head be it.' I'd be surprised if Aiglemerth wanted to argue with him again. But whatever he wanted Dadenmiel to do, Dadenmiel refused. He would not betray Elspar, or the young Man. And where was Elspar while this happened? Below. In the passage under the great hall, at the foot of the stair, listening as I was. I think that's why I'm powerless to move from that spot when I stand there in my dreams--because he didn't move. I also believe he was killed there."
"You still haven't said why, or who," said Merry. "You wouldn't tell me last night either. It's most unfair of you, Frodo, to drag it out and tease this way. For all your talk of what Lord Aiglemerth was up to, he couldn't have committed the murder. He was upstairs with the other Elf. And it couldn't be the other Elf, since he was upstairs too. It wasn't the King, was it? Surely not the son? There isn't anybody else we know of."
"I'm not certain how it happened," Frodo admitted, "but I am sure it was Lord Aiglemerth's doing, though he wasn't there to put his own hand to it."
"Hired ruffians?" guessed Aragorn.
"I believe so. They wouldn't have employed the citadel Guard for such a task--if they had, there wouldn't have been a need for such secrecy, sending Dadenmiel into the citadel through the secret passage rather than through the public way and past the guardsmen on watch that night. The ruffians would have come into the citadel the same way. What happened may have been an accident. They may have only meant to frighten the Elves, or to see them tossed out of the city if they refused to leave peaceably. They didn't expect to find Elspar there, waiting. Perhaps one of the Men stabbed him the back before he saw them and could cry out a warning to his friend. If he did see them, he would've fought them and tried to warn Dadenmiel that they were in a trap, and he was stabbed from behind in the fight. Perhaps Dadenmiel was warned and fled to safety. Or perhaps he was killed too. I fear the latter, my lady, if he hasn't been seen since," Frodo added apologetically to Arwen, who looked very distressed as she heard this explanation.
"The murderers couldn't leave the body of the slain Elspar where he'd fallen, nor carry it from the citadel without drawing unwelcome attention. So they took him back into the tunnel he had just passed through, to the place where new bricks and mortar were freshly laid at the top of the old stair, and sealed him within.
"King Ciryaher mayn't have known of it beforehand. He may have known nothing of Aiglemerth's plans, or only asked his trusted steward to attend to the problem of the Elves and was horrified to learn how it had been attended to. But he couldn't betray Aiglemerth, and so shut up the tunnel to conceal the crime. I also think that Aigande learned of it--he is the one we heard sobbing last night, Merry. I can't say it's all true," Frodo concluded, "but that is what I believe happened."
There was a moment of quiet, as the others in the room considered what Frodo had told them. Eowyn asked what the others were thinking, "Will the poor creature be laid to rest now you've found out what happened to him?"
Frodo shook his head helplessly. "I've done my best to find the truth, with the information I could find. Elspar's murderers and all who knew him in this city are long dead and in their tombs."
A light appeared in Aragorn's eyes at these last words. "Perhaps we may settle the question there."
Site Info
We are the home of 1292 authors from among our 2551 members. There have been 2904 reviews written about our 3820 stories consisting of 10734 chapters and 29400445 words. A special welcome to our newest member, plaguenurse1500.Categories
Skin Change
Donate
Help us keep one of the oldest running LotR archives available to all. Even the smallest donation helps!
Many thanks to our previous donors!
Many thanks to our previous donors!
