Seeds of the White Tree

Chapter 26 - Whispers in the Dark

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"A Bereth thar Ennui Aeair!
Calad ammen i reniar
Mi 'aladhremmin ennorath.
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
i chin a thûl lín míriel..."*

It was a calm spring evening, and Eldarion sang softly to himself as he stood on guard at the entrance to the Citadel. The White City lay quiet before him, rooftops still glistening wet from a late afternoon rainfall. It had not yet been an hour since the sun went down. Firelight and lamplight still shone from many a building, although one by one the households of Minas Tirith were shuttering their windows against the chill of night. Eldarion was prepared; he wore a lined black cloak over his uniform, in addition to fur-lined gloves and thick wooden socks. The warmth of the day still lingered in the stones beneath his boots though, as well as in the scent of growing things. Soon all of the window boxes in Minas Tirith would be filled with May-time flowers, and beyond the city walls the farmers would be planting their crops.

A dog howled somewhere in the lower circles, and Eldarion looked up to find the 'Dog Star' in the sky. He picked out Helluin without much difficulty, set as it was upon the glittering belt of Telumehtar, 'The Hunter'. Helluin shone ice-blue against the blackness of the night, reminding Eldarion of the sparkle of the Evenstar necklace's crystals. The precious heirloom of their house rested cool and familiar against Eldarion's skin beneath his tunic. His mother and father had given the Evenstar to him to wear when he was a child, and Eldarion almost never took it off. He had shared it for a time with Almárëa when she was younger and tearfully jealous. Over time though, the jewel had passed back to Eldarion. He was glad of it; somehow he had always felt off-balance and naked without the Evenstar resting next to his heart.

Another star caught his eye, red and hotly gleaming next to the constellation Menelgavor. The star Borgil was one of the largest in the Bull constellation, and a personal favourite of Eldarion's. He smiled quietly to himself as he continued to scan the star-dusted sky. Remmirath, 'The Jewelled Net'...Soronúmë, 'The Eagle'...Wilwarin, 'The Butterfly'...each twinkled into shape as Eldarion recognized them. Each constellation had its story, and each star its place in the tale. He and his sister's had learned all of those stories at their parents' knee. Eldarion felt a pang of longing for his sisters; Túrien, now a married woman living among the Haradrim, and then Eruthiawen and Almárëa off travelling in the north. Even Elboron had gone with them to Annúminas. At least Eldarion still had his father for company.

As if summoned by mere thought, Eldarion heard muffled footsteps approaching from across the courtyard of the White Tree. When he turned to look over his shoulder, he was greeted by his father's thoughtful gaze. It had been a long day of meetings with the lords of the Blackroot Vale, and Aragorn still wore his richly embroidered state attire and crown.

"All is quiet tonight?" Aragorn asked Eldarion, coming to stand side-by-side with his son.

Eldarion hummed in the affirmative, letting the usual decorum of a captain slide seeing as it was just the two of them present.

"I checked in with the officers in the guardhouse earlier. The patrols report that all was well in the city at sundown." Eldarion shifted subtly before adding "No sign of the one who left the Eye in the Sages' Tier either though."

"Unfortunate," said Aragorn "but not unexpected."

"Adar?"

"Yes, Eldarion?"

The question had been gnawing at Eldarion all day, but he still had trouble voicing it. "Could there ever be any chance that he might return to the world? The Dark Lord?"