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Light Fingers - Chapter 14 - Justice
The King’s message arrived at the warmest point of the afternoon, finding Ivoreth sitting on her bed staring out the window at nothing. Raini sat on Celebriel’s lap, leaning against the elleth with her eyes half-closed while listening to a soft song about white shores and green grass and tall mountains. On the small table between the beds sat a tray with slices of bread and cheese which had remained untouched by either girl.
Ivoreth heard her Ada answer the knock on the door, but didn’t turn her head or move to see who it was. Her mind was caught somewhere between the last time she’d seen her little brother alive – laughing with his friends in the corner by the wall – and the sad little linen-wrapped bundle that had lay so still and cold next to the hungry hole in the ground that had eventually eaten it whole.
“Ivoreth.” She finally brought herself back from her troubling daydreams to look up into her Ada’s face. “The King sends for us.”
Finally.
She scooted to the edge of the bed and stood, only to find Ada looking from the plate of food to her face. “You really need to eat something, my daughter. It’s a long walk back up to the Citadel – and you didn’t eat much this morning.”
“I’m really not very hungry, Ada,” she replied softly. Indeed, just the thought of eating was enough to make her stomach do a rather unsettling turn.
He wasn’t happy about it, Ivoreth could tell, but he evidently decided not to press the point, for he put out his hand to her and led her from the bedroom and then from the apartment. He was right – it was a long walk up to the Citadel, and Ivoreth was feeling the emptiness in her stomach by the time they approached the door-wards with their crossed spears preventing entry. This time, however, Ada needed say not a word before the spears were pulled upright and out of the way, allowing them to pass.
Again, they were met by a black and silver-robed noble, who with a word and a gesture had them heading down a different hallway and finally entering into another room much like the one they’d been in before. This time, however, Elessar was already seated in a chair on a very small, raised platform near the hearth, with Lord Faramir standing to the side and slightly behind the chair. On either side stood a small number of richly dressed nobles who spoke in very quiet tones amongst themselves as they waited. Ada bowed to the King, his movement reminding Ivoreth to drop into her awkward mimic of a proper curtsey; and then they moved to the side as well, into a spot where Ivoreth knew she’d be able to see and hear everything that happened.
Elessar gave the two of them a slight nod of the head and then looked toward the door. “Bring in the boy,” he said to Faramir.
“Bring in the prisoner,” Faramir called out in a clear tone.
Prisoner?
Movement and a clanking came from the direction of the door, and Ivoreth turned to see two Guards in highly polished helms marching toward the King with a very small boy between them, their hands obviously heavy on his shoulders. Samul had been bathed, she noticed, and been given something better than the rags he’d been wearing in the cart. But from the way his wide and almost wild eyes darted first to one richly dressed noble to the next, it was clear that the boy was terrified. His face had faded to the color of the cleanest white stone of the Citadel itself.
Samul’s wandering gaze found Ivoreth again, and she could tell he would have run to her had not the Guards kept their hands on his shoulders to hold him in place. Ivoreth wished she could tell him that it was going to be all right, but from the stern and serious look on the King’s face, she couldn’t tell what was going to happen.
Elessar’s gaze moved once between Ivoreth and the terrified little boy before him who was staring at the girl imploringly, and he seemed to come to a decision. “Ivoreth, would you come here, please?” the King called out, stretching out a hand to her.
Ivoreth gazed up at her Ada in surprise and worry, but Ada merely nodded and then smiled down at her. “Go on,” he whispered, his hand at her back giving her the smallest nudge.
All the conversations in the room seemed to cease as Ivoreth walked slowly up onto the platform to in front of the King, and then put her hand in his. Elessar leaned forward and pulled her to him enough to put his arm about her waist and bring her to his side. He then looked down at the boy shivering in front of him. “I hear your name is Samul – is that right?” Ivoreth blinked in surprise – the stern tone was gone, and Elessar was the kind man she’d met a few days earlier, who had told her of her brother’s sentence.
The little boy nodded nervously, his eyes darting back and forth between Ivoreth and the King.
Elessar stretched out his other hand. “Come up here next to me. I’d like to talk with you a while, Samul.” At the sudden rush of astonished whispers from the gathered nobles, he looked out across the room and scowled. “Don’t mind them,” he said in a slightly louder tone, returning his attention to the boy, “they just want to listen to our talk.” He kept his hand out. “I’m not going to hurt you, little one,” he soothed. “Come here.”
Samul inched forward, glancing backwards at the Guards that had been at his side as if astonished that they hadn’t moved forward with him. Ivoreth watched as he came to the very edge of the platform and stopped. “Come on up here,” Elessar beckoned again. “Take a step up – it’s all right.” Finally Samul pushed himself up on the platform, and the King reached out and pulled the little boy closer by the hand until Samul stood right at the King’s knees.
“You know Ivoreth, don’t you?” the King asked kindly. Samul’s eyes glued themselves to Ivoreth’s face as he nodded. “And you remember her little brother – Daren?”
At that, Samul’s face lost what little trace of color it had regained in the past moments. He nodded and found something on the floor to look at.
“I need you to tell me what happened to Daren,” the King said, using a finger to bring Samul’s face back up to look at him. “Ivoreth needs to know why her brother died.”
Samul’s gaze swung immediately to Ivoreth. “I’m sorry,” he began, his eyes filling as he shook his head slowly. Ivoreth bit her lip, surprised at herself when she found yet another small well of tears of her own.
“Samul.” The little boy looked once more at the King in front of him. “Tell us what happened.”
Samul shook his head again. “They s…said…” he began, beginning to tremble.
“They said what?” Elessar urged gently.
Samul gazed up at the King, huge tears dripping from his chin. “They said if I told… that I’d end up like Daren.” He whispered the last part.
The King took a deep breath. “Who told you this?” he asked in a slightly more stern tone.
Samul shook his head and looked at his bare feet again. Elessar waited for a moment; and then gave Ivoreth a quick smile as he removed his arm from her waist to reach out and pull Samul up into his lap. Again he sent out a quick glare to quiet the nobles who were watching and rustling in outrage again before looking back at Samul. “Samul, do you know who I am?” The little boy looked up into the King’s face and shook his head, cringing. “I am the King, little one. Whoever told you that they would harm you would have to come through me right now – so it’s safe for you to tell me who they are.”
“ The…” Samul’s eyes had gotten very wide, and he stared at the King for a long moment. “You’re really the King?” he asked in a whisper with obvious disbelief.
“Yes.”
Samul stared at the King’s head. “Then where’s your crown?”
Elessar smoothed a hand over Samul’s back and gave a small smile. “I thought that it would be better if I didn’t wear it. I thought it might frighten you – and I need you able to answer me. But you may trust me when I give you my word as King that you’re safe now. Nobody can get to you here.”
“I’m really safe?” he asked in a trembling voice.
“Yes,” Elessar answered calmly. “You’re really safe now. So tell me, who told you not to speak of these things?”
“D…Durdir, th…the Guard at the prison,” the boy finally stammered, “and then the cart driver – that’s Durdir’s brother, Pellas.”
“Very good, Samul – you’re doing just fine.” The King ran his hand over the boy’s shoulders. Ivoreth saw Lord Faramir move away for a moment to speak very softly into the ear of one of the Guards that had brought Samul into the room – and the Guard nodded and turned and left while Lord Faramir moved back into his place behind the King’s chair. “Now, I need you to tell Ivoreth what happened that night in the prison,” the King continued gently.
Samul looked over at Ivoreth, his eyes filling yet again. “He was afraid of the dark,” he began with a guilty shrug of the shoulder, as if trying to excuse what he was about to tell.
Ivoreth nodded. It had been something that no amount of comforting from her had been able to take care of. She had never understood the fears her little brother thought would come at him in the dark, but she had learned very quickly to let him nestle close to her at night lest his crying and whimpering keep them all awake.
“They didn’t like it when he started to cry – and they started to hit him…” Samul looked back up at the King. “I tried to tell them to stop, but they pushed me away and told me to shut up.”
“Who hit him?” The King’s voice was very soft and gentle.
Samul began speaking quickly. “The older boys in the cell – they called him a baby and began punching him to get him to be quiet. And when he started crying louder, they hit him again… And then Durdir came over…”
“The Guard?” Elessar prompted.
Samul nodded. “He said something like ‘If you can’t get the brat to shut up, I’ll do it.’” Samul sniffed and gave Ivoreth a very guilty glance. “That’s when he kicked him real hard in the head.” He hung his head. “Daren got real quiet – and everybody backed away and went to sleep. It was too dark to see anything – but I saw Daren was still down in the morning, and there was lots of blood. When the time came for us all to go, Durdir just pushed us all out of the cell and said he’d clean up the mess.” He looked at Ivoreth again. “I’m sorry, Ivo – I couldn’t help him…” Big tears rolled down his cheek again, and he looked up at the King for a brief moment before hanging his head again. “That’s what happened.”
Elessar sat very quietly for a moment, his eyes half-closed; and then he looked down at Samul and nodded. “You’re a very brave fellow for telling us this. And now, I have one last question for you – one that is very important – and I need to know that you’ll tell me the truth.” Samul gazed up at the King. “Will you tell me the truth?” The boy nodded. “Then tell me, did you steal the bread from the baker Garlain the day you were arrested?”
Samul shook his head. “No, but Jarem did.”
“Jarem?” The King looked to Ivoreth.
“Jarem is Samul’s big brother,” she told him softly. “And Daren didn’t steal. He didn’t. I told you he didn’t.” Ivoreth didn’t know whether to feel relief or anger. She looked over at her Ada for support, and found his expression tight and angry too.
Elessar turned back to the boy. “Your brother took the bread? You’re certain?”
Samul nodded. “And he ran fast from Garlain, and made it back into the drain before the Guards could catch him. He’s good at that.” The little boy’s voice held a touch of pride, which evaporated quickly when he glanced back up into the King’s face again. “Garlain was so mad, he pointed at us and told the Guards to take us instead. He said it didn’t make any difference who got arrested as long as some of us sewer-rats paid for the pinched loaf with our hides.”
“Why didn’t you tell all this to the judge?” Faramir asked over the King’s shoulder.
“I…” Samul gulped. “I was afraid – and so were Bran and Davit. We thought they were going to kill us, even though the Guard said that all they’d do was flog the skin from our backs.”
The King gazed long and hard at Samul, who stared back with only a small shiver of what Ivoreth knew had to be fear. Then Elessar took a deep breath and ruffled Samul’s hair with a gentle smile. “A very brave little fellow indeed.” He set Samul down in front of him near Ivoreth and raised his eyes to look about the room. “And telling the truth. This child is innocent of the charges under which he was convicted. We hereby set aside the verdict against him on the charge of petty theft.”
Samul stared. “You can do that?” he gaped.
Elessar looked at Ivoreth. “We also hereby set aside the verdict against Daren, brother of Ivoreth, on the same charge, so that his memory may remain spotless. We also set aside the verdict in the same matter against the children Bran and Davit…” he looked back at Faramir. “Have we discovered where they are yet?”
Faramir shook his head. “That I know of, no, Sire. We’re still searching the outlying farms.”
“They went to a farm out farther than the one I was at,” Samul offered quickly, then blanched at having the King’s full attention again. “At least, that’s what I was told. They didn’t get off the cart when I did.”
Elessar nodded again, looking out over the small crowd of nobles that gazed back at him in utter silence. “My lords, the tale you heard this day was of a horrible miscarriage of justice that went on right under all our noses, of a kind that has been going on under your noses for a long time – and why? Because the victims of this atrocity were poor and easy to just brush away or, as in this instance, easy to throw into a dark and forgotten corner of the prison to die of a beating. For these unfortunates, and the One only knows how many others like them who lost homes, parents, families, or incomes in the siege and the war that came before it, this past year of peace and new prosperity has made no difference in their lives at all. For too long, those who somehow managed to have enough to avoid this kind of suffering have hoped that these less fortunate people would simply starve to death and so remove themselves from the need for any consideration.” The King’s eyes narrowed. “That kind of thinking belongs more properly in Mordor than in Minas Tirith. And, gentlemen, that kind of thinking will change – now!”
Elessar rose to his feet, and Ivoreth, with Samul suddenly pressed into her side, stepped back from the tall man who suddenly seemed to grow taller and grander just by pulling himself to his full height. “We hereby decree that Samul, Davit and Bran, orphans of Minas Tirith with no other responsible family to call upon for support or assistance in their youth, all be given over into the care of the chief warden of the orphanages…
No! Not the orphanages!
Ivoreth stared at the King in stunned dismay, and then blinked at his next words. “…to be given a decent place to sleep at night, food to eat, clothes to wear, healers to care for any injuries or illnesses and in the fullness of time, proper training in order to take their places as useful citizens of Gondor with gainful employment. In light of certain abuses that we recently learned occurred at orphanages in the past,” the King glanced down at Ivoreth, and she shivered to know that he was referring to what had happened to her Da, “the Queen herself will personally vouchsafe that these three, and all others that come into the care of the orphanages from now on, never have reason to fear for their wellbeing again.”
He would do that?
Elessar turned a stern look on the remaining Guard that had brought Samul into the audience chamber. “In the matter in which we just heard testimony, we hereby order the arrest of the baker Garlain, on the charge of causing the false arrest of innocents. We order his establishment seized on behalf of the Crown until such time as we can decide how best to make use of it.” Ivoreth saw him look directly at her Ada, and the beginning of a smile started to ease her Ada’s face. The King looked back out over the crowd. “The Guard Durdir is also ordered held and charged with the death of the child Daren, and his brother Pellas will be held and charged with making threats of retribution to obstruct the processes of justice. Those others in the cell with the child Daren at the time of the attack on him will be found and returned to the City and charged with assault and battery.”
He paused then, and stepped forward to glare out at the gathered nobles. “As men of Gondor, we are pledged to honor the Light, not to turn a blind eye to our most vulnerable people for so long, leaving undone a task that bears greatly on the future. These children – rich or poor, orphaned or children of nobles - are our future and our greatest treasure, gentlemen. They are the heirs that we leave behind, and what we do today will shape their actions – the kind of honor they uphold, and the kind of justice they deal out in their turn when we are long gone. They – not the structures we build or the battles we win – are our true immortality,. We brush aside even the least of these children of Gondor at our peril – and I for one will not squander even the smallest bit of our realm’s future needlessly any longer.”
“Ivoreth,” the King turned to her, “We regret deeply that this comes too late to be of aid to your brother, but you have our solemn vow that all will be done to assure that nothing like this ever happens again. And now,” he reached down and grabbed up a gasping Samul into his arms and then reached for Ivoreth’s hand, “we will go together to the orphanage, so that you can see for yourself that your brother’s friend will be in good hands indeed.” He looked up and out over the crowd, who were still standing, many with mouths still gaping. “This audience is at an end.”
Sindarin Vocabulary
Ada - Dad, Daddy
elleth - female Elf (pl. ellith)