[Fordim Hedgethistle]

The Emissary smiled at the Queen and reclined at length upon his cushions. His eyes narrowed, but in a measured way rather than a menacing. He paused in contemplation of her like that, and remembered the sight of her kneeling before her useless idol earlier. His smile grew thin. “What would you like to know, Majesty?” There was the slightest emphasis upon the final word that sent shivers up Bekah’s spine.

“Given your mistake, I would be interested in hearing about the women of your land,” she replied evenly. “Particularly the role of your Queen.”

“My Lord Annatar has no wife,” the Emissary replied quickly, a brief glimpse of distaste appearing on his features.

“Oh?” the Queen queried, “that cannot be a good policy. Not unless he plans on living forever.”

This time the Emissary did not even try to hide his smile, but it was unreadable to her. Faroz, turning from his General, had heard the last exchange and now joined in. “Indeed,” he said to the man, “your lord should take a wife. I admit that I sometimes do not give my Queen the credit and acknowledgement that she deserves, but without her I daresay I could not run the kingdom.”

“Indeed,” the Emissary replied, his eyes never leaving the Queen’s. “If I might be so bold, my King, that would seem to me an unwise policy. While I am sure that the people are well served by such a pair as yourselves, is it not better for there to be one ruler? One alone whom all obey?”

Bekah pounced on this. “At last, I think I see something of your land. Your Lord Annatar is a monarch of great power, I deem. One who does not believe in sharing that power with family or nobles.”

“Where there is wisdom and strength, Majesty, there can be little need for sharing power.”

“And is your Lord Annatar so well endowed with both that he needs no help?” the Queen replied.

Faroz stepped in once more, for the tone of the conversation was becoming heated and heads were beginning to turn. “My friend,” he began. “You must forgive us, for we are a proud people – proud of our land and of our way of doing things. The ways of others, even those who are neighbours to us, seem foreign and strange.”

“And yet,” the Emissary replied, “you would know so much of your neighbour’s ways, having married your former enemy.”

Even Faroz fell silent at the audacity of the comment, and for a second it appeared as though the Emissary had finally overstepped all bounds. But with a happy laugh and a sudden movement that brought him upright, the man said, “I am sorry, Majesties, but you are not alone in your difficulty with foreign ways. I admit, that in my land women do not enjoy the power of rule as is apparent here. Nor are they partners in the King’s power. But also we do not use them to make political alliances, marrying them to an enemy for the benefit of ourselves. I do not judge, nor do I seek to offend, I merely speak as you have bid me. . .of our ways.”

“We take no offence,” the King replied before his wife could. “But perhaps we could speak of something else for the time. You said somewhat of the Elves in your land this afternoon, perhaps you could tell us more. You mentioned that there was strife between Men and Elves…?”

The Emissary’s face fell. “Indeed,” he said quietly, “it was all an unfortunate and lamentable mistake on all sides. The Elves believed that there were Men who wished to have their land, and the Men, for their part, had become distrustful of the Elves. It is said that some of the Elves who had brought the Evil from over the Sea were seeking to rebuild their kingdoms, and so perhaps there was some truth to the bad feeling felt against them.”

“What evil?” the Queen asked.

“In long ages past, my Queen, the Elves left for the West to enjoy an eternal peace, but some returned to make war on the powers of Middle-earth. For centuries they fought over a hoard of treasure that they made false claims to, and in the end they and all their works were destroyed in a mighty cataclysm that changed the face of the earth itself. It is said that some of those who fought in that war linger yet in Middle-earth and that they desire still to have vengeance upon their enemies. In their mistaken pride, they hold all Men to be their enemies.”

“All Men?” the King asked. He had heard none of this, this afternoon.

“There are some,” the Emissary replied, “who the Elves trust. But they are themselves more Elvish than Men, for in years past the Elves took into their keeping some humans and…bred with them. It is a long tale, and not a happy one.” He fell silent, and it was clear that he would say no more on the topic this night. He turned his eyes upon the Queen. “I fear I have not told you much, my Queen. . .at least, not what you were hoping to hear. What can I say that will assuage your concerns about my Lord? What assurance do you crave that he is in earnest in his request for friendship?”