((Next part – still at Arangilas house with his mystic visitor))
Arangilas mind drifts back to a place just by the entrance to the Barrow
He had just come to Bree-land and by mistake he rode into the Old Forest where he had been in some trouble, and was now washing his bloody hands by a fountain at a house in the outskirts of the woods there… Strange place to have a house he had thought to himself, but his mind and eyes were already beaming towards something at the corner of his eye…
Suddenly she was there…
A young lady warrior with red fiery hair and a spark in her eye he had never seen before in a woman.
She had come towards the fountain, not giving Arangilas any attention.
Blaecwyn…
His beloved Blaecwyn…
She had at first – after a lot of work and persuasive words - become a fellow knight and they had fought side by side in many battles.
She had even been involved in choosing the other candidates for the nine seats of Knights Of Eriador. Nine altogether – them both included…
She was his absolute most trusted friend – along side the man that had joined him this stormy night.
But she had never met this man… none of them had even known he existed…
“Have you seen her lately?”
Arangilas snaps out of his thoughts from his friends question.
“No… its been a while… Met her not long after I came back. With a young man, who called her mother…”
The man had raised his eyebrows.
“She remarried?”
Arangilas nods slowly seemingly in deeper thoughts on the subject.
“But not to this young mans father… He was an orphan she took in after what I understood…Micaiah I believe his name is, she only calls him Mic. 16 of age now, and working as the stable boy at the
Arangilas sighs and draws breath before continuing.
“No…. She was married to Flowlen I have heard, but that part I have not gotten verified… I knew him though. Back when they were still only lovers. I did not know him well, but I helped her save him out of some trouble one time… A good man he was…”
Arangilas pauses again, taking a good sip of his wine.
“Blaecwyn gave birth to twins… Flowlen being the father I guess if my information is correct on that part… Anyway… The twins and their father all died in a fire while she was away somewhere fighting…”
The man freezes his eyes on Arangilas and stops in the middle of a sip of his wine.
He studies Arangilas presence as he can see Arangilas struggles with something.
He swallows his wine and sighs, slowly shaking his head.
“You still blame yourself don’t you? After all this time… you still blame yourself.
It is strange how everything that woman has endured suddenly should somehow be your fault…”
Arangilas stays silent, his gaze fixed on the dancing flames in the fireplace again.
“Every time you hear news of her whereabouts and her life the same happens… you become distant and tormented and you…”
Arangilas interrupts the man with a firm tone to his voice.
“I left her!! In the worst possible way… I betrayed her! Betrayed my friends… I betrayed myself… Had I not done so, she would not have the life she has today… A husband should stand by his wife… no matter what… So yes… I am to blame!”
The man gets up and puts a hand on Arangilas shoulder.
“Berinsael… we have been over this many times… The whole time you have stayed with me in my house up in the mountains, your goal has been to search yourself and find the man that was lost. Part of that search was to also learn to forgive yourself for the wrongs you might have made.”
Arangilas nods in agreement to his friends words.
“And I have… But I cannot forgive myself when it comes to Blaecwyn. Not until she forgives me…”
Arangilas mind had again drifted off.
Everything had gone completely wrong… He never had anything else but the best intentions… but it all just blew up in his face…
“Jordi…”
He stops and almost feels like he can taste the name – as if a foul taste sets in your mouth, and you cannot seem to get rid of it… No… he cursed the day he had met her…
The daughter of Commander Mitchem of Gondor… the very same man who had hunted down his own father and the rest of the knights he had led…
She was not working for him – on the contrary – she had fled from him.
Now she was the seneschal of the Northwind Free Company.
Gondorian soldiers, who had deserted and now lived as mercenaries.
He had remembered her from her childhood – as the little girl outside his window in Minas Tirith. Her beating up the older kids who bullied the other kids in that street…
She was no longer a small child… she was a woman… and she knew how to use her womanly skills to her benefit and to get what she wanted…
Though Arangilas had not seen this at first… He had not been able to read her like he read most people…
Jordi had introduced Arangilas to their mercenary leader, Urien – and the two leaders had instantly started to talk of collaborations between the two factions.
Already then there were some concerns within the group of knights if this was the right way to go… Blaecwyn definitely being one of them… but not the only one.
But Arangilas had not listened. He had pressed on with the cooperation - spending a lot of time with them at their base in Evendim – learning their ways, and spending more and more time away from his friends and his beloved Blaecwyn – now his wife.
And this also meant – a lot more time with Jordi.
They had never been romantic with each other – not even kissed.
But she had completely hypnotized Arangilas with her presence. It was like he was under a spell of some sort. She had also – when it suited her cause – slipped in false rumours about Blaecwyn, well knowingly that she was against the cooperation in the first place – and could mean problems for them if she continued to be a threat to it.
Gradually Arangilas had been turned against his wife, and he disregarded her advice more often – pressing the order of knights into rules of conduct that resembled the ones of the mercenary company. Though he never would take money for their work or help – the knights were in all other aspects run like the Northwind Free Company…
((to be continued))
