Both Lothíriel and Éomer had left Minas Tirith very early on the morning of the day after Amrothos and Frea’s wedding, attended by a somewhat hungover Genting. But Assa had also seemingly disappeared from Minas Tirith the same day, without letting even her brother know where she was going, leaving only Gallend and Hadán in the rented house.
Galador had been as good as his word and only one more bud had needed to be sacrificed to the delicate game playing out between Gallend and Assa. A package arrived for Gallend from Galador later in the early evening. He had expected it to be another fresh bud wrapped in moist cloth but this one was wrapped in nothing but silk. It was even more vibrant in its colours and looked fresher than the two previous ones.
Gallend marvelled at how Erchirion could have produced one so lustrous until he read Galador’s note, which described how best to look after the material used to create the flower. He was amazed at how realistic this silk flower was. Galador had written that it should last at least a year but Galador could easily recreate it, even in different colours if preferred.
It was the perfect solution. Gallend had lain the silk Calanthum flower beside him that evening in hope, but it was stubbornly there untouched the next morning. Hadán noted his friend’s conspicuously downcast mood as they prepared breakfast together.
‘You are sleeping with my sister,’ he said conversationally. Gallend looked up sharply.
‘Yes,’ he answered almost defiantly, ‘I hope this will not cause any problems between us?’ he continued.
‘Not between us, no. It is none of my business with whom she sleeps. But if you ever try to make me chose between you and her, I will always choose her. Just to be clear.’ Hadán answered candidly.
‘I would expect nothing less,’ Gallend responded honestly, and they fell into a protracted silence.
‘She won’t marry me, it seems… I would prefer to marry her, just so that you know. I don’t know how much Genting has told you about my past? Well, Assa is very different from my wife, Sigulla, and while I realise that Assa would not welcome any comparison, I feel… it’s, err, difficult to explain… I feel somehow that with Assa I have come home… again. I have no wish to be with anyone else. I don’t know where she is now. I worry about her, even though I know there is no point in worrying and if anyone can look after herself, it is Assa. I am missing her, though she’s only been gone less than a day... And I only hope that she feels comfortable enough with me that this is a situation she allows me to get used to…’ he glanced over to Hadán who had sat through his explanation as impassively as usual.
‘That sounds to me as though you feel yourself to be in love with her,’ Hadán proffered not unkindly.
Gallend shook his head in bemusement, ‘May the Valar help me, I have no other explanation myself. I am at a loss to understand what happened, but I felt this as soon as I saw the sketch of her that Lothíriel did in Aldburg.’ He shook his head. ‘I could barely take my eyes off her while we were in Sennebar. I have never been jealous of any man before in my life, Hadán, but seeing you both together stirred something in my soul I had never experienced, nor wish to again…. And I have no idea how she feels about me, none. She is one of the very few people I cannot read.’ He heaved a despairing and annoyed sigh. ‘But this is not your problem and I cannot let this interfere with what we have to do. I am sorry, Hadán, I shouldn’t have burdened you with this.’
Hadán allowed himself a sympathetic sigh. ‘Well, I can tell that she trusts you. Without that, you would have no hope.’ Hadán hesitated, he was deep in thought. ‘She told me that she had met you many years before in Minas Tirith, only you don’t remember. Is that possible?’
Gallend looked confused, ‘I am sure I would remember meeting someone as unusual as Assa. I came only once to Minas Tirith until very recently – by Béma that was an unmemorable visit! I was escorting Théodred on a formal visit to meet Denethor. Thankfully I wasn’t expected at the Citadel. It was my twentieth birthday and the rest of us decided to go and enjoy the delights of the city. I must have got so blind drunk I recall nothing of that night, nor indeed the next one. I vaguely remember Théodred storming into whatever hovel the boys had left me in and being barely able to ride back to Rohan I was so sick. I truly hope I didn’t meet Assa then as I can’t have left a good impression!’
Hadán grimaced. ‘Genting told me you bedded every willing woman you met after that and yet once you saw Sigulla, you were utterly faithful, even after you lost her. I found that strange until Assa told me some of what you don’t remember from Minas Tirith.’
Gallend was somewhat taken aback by Hadán’s words. ‘I’m not going to like this, am I?’
‘Do you really remember nothing?’ Hadán asked him in some doubt.
‘No,’ Gallend insisted, ‘I don’t know what happened, Hadán. Flashes of, errr… very strange memories, that’s all. When I saw Lothíriel’s drawing, I knew I had seen her before, I thought perhaps in my dreams…’
‘It’s something you should ask her,’ he said emphatically. An awkward silence descended between them.
‘As I said, it’s none of my business, but she is unlikely to want any children, you should know that.’ Hadán said, turning to the one question which did concern him.
‘That’s not important to me, Hadán. It’s not why I want to be with her,’ he replied sincerely.
Hadán studied Gallend unconvinced by this answer. ‘You should be concerned, Gallend. You have just inherited the largest fief in Rohan outside that of the King. Your uncle Erkenbrand has no children, nor seemingly any inclination to marry. Your family is the second most senior branch of royalty in Rohan after Éomer. I confess, I do not want my sister to be involved with this. I have no objections to you, none at all, but this is not a situation to bring someone like Assa into,’ he finished gravely.
Gallend stayed silent a long while and came to a decision. ‘I have a son, Hadán, a legitimate son by Sigulla. He is with her kin in Dunland. He does not know himself who he really is, merely that he is half-Rohirric and half-Dunlending. Only Maglor and his foster parents know who he is. I have been waiting for this business with the Astari to be over before letting anyone find out,’ he confessed to an openly surprised Hadán.
‘How?’ Hadán asked, ‘Genting said he saw the bodies of your two daughters and Sigulla himself. He told Lothíriel…’ A spasm of intense grief crossed Gallend’s face. ‘I’m sorry Gallend, I have no wish to imagine the pain you have endured. I shouldn’t pry,’ Hadán added quickly.
‘No, it’s alright,’ he looked up with determination. ‘Finally, they have received the justice they long deserved. Simply killing my father would have been too easy. I wanted him to face the truth of what he had done, and to see the disgust in the eyes of his peers, to see how he had shamed himself. And in the end he did, he did see. He even confessed that he had murdered my mother. It helped. It has helped me find peace. Lothíriel persuaded him. She sat with him the whole night before his execution. They talked. She called me to see him an hour before he was led out, just the three of us. It set me free, as she knew it would.’
As Gallend sat quietly mastering his emotions, Hadán turned his thoughts to his adored friend and wondered how she would find her own peace in the North. He had wanted nothing more than to leave for Rohan with Genting and never think of the Astari or Sennebar again. He wanted to go back to his cousins in Handlend Vale and give whatever aid he could to his mother’s village. But he had to protect his little Lothi above all these other considerations and destroying the Condir and his network was how he could best protect her future.
And now the other woman in his heart, his sister, who was impossible to protect, he was equally afraid for. Without her strength and her unconditional love, he would not have been able to keep Pallando’s vile spirit at bay within him. He had sensed her immediate and intense attraction to Gallend. He had spoken to Genting about what she had told him and Gallend’s past became clearer. That the pair had a bond that was as unlikely as it was strong was undeniable, and he feared for them both.
‘Sigulla had been heavily pregnant when she was murdered. She was a good fighter, but in her condition, she couldn’t defend herself and the two little ones. The bastards who came for us wanted to keep me alive long enough to see them all dead. I was only saved by Maglor. I had killed three of them, but they were eight and we had been taken by surprise. Sigulla was close to dying when Maglor killed the last of them. He coaxed the baby out of her, and she died in my arms. As you know, Maglor has experience of new-borns and took him into the forest to find food for him. He heard Théodred calling out for me and returned to advise me on feigning my blame of him and Éomer in front of my father’s men. Above all, we had to keep my son safe and hidden. Maglor made it seem that Sigulla’s baby had died within her, so no one knew. He’s eight now. Although I have hardly seen him, he knows I am his father, if not exactly who I am.
I have no wish to become Lord of Elbrond, Hadán. Elbrond holds no good memories for me. I hope only that my uncle Erkenbrand will take that title and my son will, if he wishes, inherit it from him. Were Assa to become with child, I would not expect her to look after it. I would take that responsibility for myself….’ he looked shrewdly at Hadán and smiled, ‘… although I hope that the child’s two uncles might want to help occasionally if they were not too busy with their duties to the King.’
Hadán’s face softened. A child for him and Genting to look after, yes, he would like that future very much. He had been looking forward to helping to care for Éomer and Lothíriel’s children with Genting. He was already planning on teaching the girls to fight with the daggers and the castatas, and for Genting to teach them all how to ride. Assa, he felt, would not take well to being pregnant but he would do his best to persuade her that it need not be the burden she might otherwise feel.
Gallend had just found himself a willing ally.