[Fordim Hedgethistle]

His son was the first to arrive and Faroz had to admit to himself his disappointment in this. At this moment, it was the strength and resolute determination of his daughter that he needed, even though it came now at the price of Korak’s loathsome presence. Siamak presented himself to the King with proper decorum, making sure to do his obeisance at the foot of the dais, but then for a moment it appeared as though he was about to come up to his father for some further gesture. The moment, Faroz knew, was filled with emotion for the boy but at no time could he allow one, even his son, to transgress the proper forms and rites of the court. To forestall the action of his child, Faroz came down the few steps and took his son by the shoulders. He spoke quietly, but clear enough that the others who remained about him could hear. “Your mother is murdered, my son, and Pashtia has been attacked by the Alanzians. I will need you to be strong in the days ahead…you and your sister both.” And as he spoke of Gjeelea he shot the Chamberlain Jarult a guarded look that told the aged man of the King’s displeasure that his daughter had not come yet. The old servitor bowed slightly and hurried off once more to fetch her to the Court directly.

Siamak was speaking once more, and though he tried to command his voice it was clear that he was trembling with some terrible anxiety. He was worried, and a bit frightened. “Khamul,” he began, “there is yet more for you to know. The General Morgôs has been attacked and even now lies gravely wounded in the Temple of Rhais.”

A gasp of horror ran through the court, and the senseless panic, which had only just now begun to subside, once again began to threaten to break loose. To quell it, Faroz spoke quickly, demanding to hear the full tale. Siamak told what he had seen and of his actions. Faroz was pleased with his son’s bravery in confronting such an unknown circumstance, and the good sense he had shown in dealing with the aftermath. These feelings were apparent when he spoke next. “You have done well, my son, and done credit to me and…” he faltered in the formulaic phrase, which should have continued with and to your mother. In the silence that followed he said simply, “Your mother always told me that there was a strength in you, as yet untested and thus unseen. It gladdens me to see that she was right in this, as in so many other things.”

Something in the King’s tone made Siamak realise for the first time that his mother was truly gone, and bowing his head he sought to hide his tears. Faroz bade him to hold his head up high, “for such a cause of weeping has not been known in my court for many a year, and I would not have you be ashamed of a grief that is manly. But let us not allow our own feelings to distract us from our duty either. You have done much for the General already, but there is more to do.” Faroz turned to a nearby soldier, one whom he recognised as a chief lieutenant to Morgôs. “Go to the Temple of Rhais and have the General brought here to the Palace. Let him be borne into the Royal House of Healing and tended there. Send also for his wife and son, and let them know what has happened. The Lady Arlomë will no doubt wish to see her husband, but you must remind her that her first duty this night is to her Queen, for my wife must be prepared for her funeral tomorrow morning.” The lieutenant bowed and then rushed from the hall to do his King’s bidding. “In the meantime,” Faroz continued, “in the absence of my daughter my son and I must now take counsel to the matter of the Lord Annatar's offer of allegiance. The Emissary has spoken to me often of a race of beings in his land who are the enemy of Men. He has called these creatures orcs and his descriptions of them well match what we have seen and heard here this day.” And at this, all eyes fell upon the hideous head where it lay upon the dais, once again wrapped in its dirty canvas bundle. “The Emissary and his fellows have great experience of these beings and I believe would be of great use to us if we are to fight them, but to ask their aid in this is impossible unless there is a formal alliance between our realms. My son, the time has come for you and your sister to make a decision in this matter, for it was to you both that I laid the charge of deciding whether or not to accept this alliance. What say you?”