The Ring will come to Gondor
by Varda
Chapter Sixty-five: The Council of Gondor
Gollum scrambled down the wide, shallow stone
steps on all fours, and when he reached the bottom he rose to stand
upright, and gestured to the roof of the tunnel.
'This is it, masters!' he said triumphantly. In the dim light his great
eyes glowed green, all the brighter in the blackness of the tunnel.....
Sam regarded Gollum with disgust. Contemptible as the creature was
scuttling along on all fours like a mangy dog, he was even more
repulsive to Sam when he stood up like a human being, for then even Sam
could see some resemblance to the hobbit he once had been. Following
the creature's pointing arm, Sam looked up and saw that the archway
under which Gollum had paused was in fact the mouth of a great tunnel.
The keystone of the arch was carved in the shape of a fantastic
dragon-like head, gaping wide as it to swallow them up....
'This can't be the way out of the city!' burst out Sam in
disbelief. 'it is a pothole, some cave down to the centre of the
earth...'
Frodo said nothing, just examined the walls and the tunnel carefully. Gollum's grin of triumph turned to a snarl of anger.
'Stupid hobbit! Stupid, fat hobbit! Not a hole in the ground, a
waterway, built long ago by the great ones of this city. To the river
it goes, yes, straight as an arrow. It is the only way to reach the
river in secret!'
And then Gollum stopped and a sly look came over his face;
'Or perhaps hobbits would prefer to go overland, through the orc army, and hope they don't wake up when we are in their midst!'
'No' said Frodo quietly. 'We will go this way, thank you, Sméagol...'
He turned to Sam, who was almost bursting with exasperation.
'It is all right, Sam' he said 'I think I know what this is....'
When the Fellowship had been travelling from Rivendell to Moria,
Frodo had asked Boromir about Minas Tirith, and the prince of Gondor
had told him of an underground tunnel which connected the city with the
river Anduin. During sieges the defenders used it to pass between Minas
Tirith and Osgiliath. It was a great drain, originally a sewer, serving
the city and outfalling into the Anduin below Osgiliath. Once, it had
been a mighty work of engineering, built by men and dwarves and
designed by Elvish architects.
But as Minas Tirith had fallen into decay, the city folk took to using
old wells and middens for their waste, and the drain fell into
disrepair.
'In the time of my grandsire, Ecthelion..' said Boromir thoughtfully
'..who was a great builder himself, there was talk of blocking up the
Great Drain. They feared orcs or worse might swarm up it in time of
war. But the Stewards were unwilling to undo any of the great building
of our city in its age of glory. They feared, too, that blocking it up
might cause flooding. Then when Osgiliath was attacked it was found we
could use the drain as a secret passageway...'
Boromir had smiled. '...once we knew we could use it in the war, there was no more talk of blocking it up..'
When Osgiliath was lost, however, the tunnel fell again into
disuse. Even when Boromir retook the city, no-one ever again, except,
apparently, Gollum, had successfully traversed its whole length.
Fearing spies might gain access to the city, great iron gates were
placed at the upper end of the tunnel. But looking round, Frodo saw the
gates open and pushed back against the wall. His first thought was some
treachery by the garrison of the city, but he dismissed the idea; the
defenders were simply too occupied by the siege to bother about the
tunnel. And they believed, rightly or wrongly, that the outfall on the
river had been blocked up and hidden from the orcs during the
destruction of Osgiliath.
Or so it was believed....now, Frodo had to decide if they could risk
the long perilous journey through the tunnel. He looked up at the
grotesque face on the keystone of the arch. It gave its name to the
tunnel, Smuilc Dragan; the Dragon's Snout...
'Very well, Sméagol' he said, to Sam's dismay. 'If this tunnel is our only hope of escape, lead on....'
The silence in the great hall of Minas Tirith was at last broken by Gandalf, who said with a wry smile;
'I might have lost my power, but I have lost none of my sight; I
perceive the enemy awakens. Soon, perhaps before dawn, they will rise
up and attack the city as before, hardly the worse for their loss of
strength this last few days...'
'We must prepare the defences at once!' said Faramir 'Every able-bodied man must report for duty. The walls...'
Suddenly there was a crack and groan as the great doors opened. The
black-clad guards outside the hall pushed them back with all their
might, and they swung inward till they jarred against the walls with a
hollow boom. In the starlit twilight, raked by the yellow flames of the
torches in the guards' hands, stood a woman, tall and clad in an
emerald-green riding-gown embroidered with silver in a design of
horses' heads. The torchlight shone on her fair hair and made of it a
golden nimbus around her head. She stood for a long moment, sweeping
the hall and everyone in it with a proud, imperious gaze, then leaning
on the arm of a young guard who blushed red with embarrassment to find
all eyes upon him, she started forward, trying to conceal a limp, and
walked into the Great Hall and up to the Steward, Faramir.
'What is this, Lord Steward?' she demanded in a ringing voice.
'You call a council, and I am not invited to attend? I am the embassy
of Rohan, your ally and sovereign state; I deserve a seat in your
council...'
Eowyn looked around at the others, and her gaze fell on Aragorn, and lingered there.
'I see princes, and lords of men and Elves and Dwarves. Why was the
princess of Rohan not summoned to take part in your deliberations?'
There was an awkward silence, then Faramir stepped forward and bowed low and said;
'My Lady Eowyn Of Rohan, Princess of the House of Eorl, we have
only now gathered for our meeting. We purposed to send for you, but I
see you have outrun our messenger...'
Eowyn did not reply; she was thinking to herself;
'Ever this Faramir uses smooth words! But are they true..?' She
looked searchingly at each of the faces in turn, daring any to smile or
look away. But all gazed back solemnly. Aragorn met her eyes boldly,
and she noticed his were grey, the colour of a winter lake in the
North, and his gaze was direct and searching, but not unkind. At last
he spoke in a reassuring voice;
'Lady Eowyn, it is as Lord Faramir says, we were about to start our
council. You are ambassadress from our foremost ally, Rohan. We invite
you to sit at the head of our council table...'
'We?' echoed Eowyn. 'Who are you, sir?'
Aragorn smiled and looked down then said with a shrug;
'Only a Ranger of the North, my lady. But of the royal house of
Arnor, and qualified, by birth and by permission of the Steward to
welcome you thus...'
It was not a reply Eowyn was expecting, nor did she understand it
fully. She had better deal with this dark stranger later, when they
were not observed by the rest of the company. For the moment, Eowyn
merely bowed her thanks to Aragorn, and turned to Faramir who said.
'Lord Aragorn speaks the truth, and he speaks with my consent...'
Eowyn realised then that here was no point in continuing to stand on
wounded pride. These were fair and stern princes of high Numenorean
blood, and with them was a prince of the Elves and a Dwarf of high
standing, judging by the quality of his gear and weapons. It was time
for her to sit in council with the allies of her country, and hold her
own with the mightiest of Middle Earth. She said to Faramir;
'I have an urgent petition to present on behalf of my country and
my uncle, King Théoden. That is the errand that brought me from
Rohan...'
Faramir bowed and said to them all;
'Let us retire then to the Council Chamber of Minas Tirith. Too
long has it lain empty and idle, for my father thought he had no need
of counsel, in his last days...' Faramir could not resist a glance at
Gandalf;
'But all men need counsel, more than ever in times such as these, and we will hear the embassy of Rohan...'
The Company followed Faramir, who gave his arm to Eowyn. Ciall at
once stepped back, but to his surprise and mortification before these
great lords, Eowyn held onto him with an iron grip, and, his cheeks on
fire, he was forced to escort the lady down the length of the Great
Hall, squeezed between her and Faramir, Rohan and Gondor walking
together, as Boromir followed with a barely concealed smile. At the end
of the little procession, Gandalf moved slowly, leaning on the arm of
the archer, Cathach, and glancing uneasily backwards into the gloom of
the twilit hall....
In an upper story of the White Tower there was a great council chamber,
the Star Chamber, called so because of the seven-pointed star set into
the wooden ceiling, and a matching star of white stone inlaid in the
black marble floor. In the middle of the chamber was a long wooden
table, hewn from a single great oak tree before the time even of
Ecthelion, Boromir and Faramir's father. High wooden seats carved with
the arms of the city's noble families, many now extinct, were ranged
round this table. Here, in former times, the civil masters and
dignitaries, and the captains, of Minas Tirith were accustomed to sit
and debate the city's future.
But now a thick film of dust lay on both table and chairs, and the arms
and banner set into the walls were grey and rotten, like great spiders'
webs; it was long since any council had been held in the Star Chamber.
Faramir pulled back the chair at the head of the table, and hastily
brushed the dust off the seat and invited Eowyn to sit. She did so, a
little stiffly, and Ciall retired with relief to stand behind her chair
like a page. Faramir then gestured to the rest of the company to take
their seats, and he himself sat down last, at Eowyn's right hand. On
her left sat the dark-haired stranger, Aragorn, and on his right hand
Boromir, his eyes fixed on the lady's pale face and feverishly bright
grey eyes. A guard hurried in and placed a great branching silver
candelabrum on the table, and the light seemed dazzling after the
darkness of the Great Hall. It lit up the faces, fair and anxious and
thoughtful. Faramir spoke, and they all turned towards him;
'My Lady of Rohan, I welcome you here to Minas Tirith, and you
other lords too, I rejoice to see you here. Among you I count
representatives of Arnor...' he smiled at Aragorn...'..of Mirkwood..'
Legolas bowed his head '...Erebor of the Dwarves...' Gimli grunted and
nodded '...and Gondor..' Boromir smiled and winked at his brother. Then
Faramir looked at Gandalf and added;
'And welcome to you, Mithrandir, for with you present I know our counsels will not stray or fail....'
Gandalf nodded with a sad smile, and Faramir concluded;
'You are all most welcome, and I ask that with your best wisdom and
with no little speed, as the enemy even now is at our door, you will
now debate what we should do next, for our defence and the conduct of
this great war, which threatens to be the last Gondor, or anyone of the
races of Men, Elves or Dwarves will ever wage....'
Then Faramir paused and inclined his head towards Eowyn;
'I invite the embassy from Rohan, Lady Eowyn, Eomund's daughter and niece of King Théoden, to speak first....'
Eowyn, ignoring the pain of her wounded leg, got to her feet and facing
the council she spoke in a clear, calm voice which shook slightly;
'My lords, I come here, through great perils, to beg your help in
ridding my kingdom of a vile, lying weasel of a man who, under the
command of Sauron or Saruman - I know not which - has bewitched my
uncle, King Théoden, with his tongue, rendering him helpless as a
babe....'
Eowyn paused, to catch her breath and gauge the effect of her words
on her audience. All faces showed surprise, and horror, for none there
knew of Grima's dominance over King Théoden, although Gandalf had heard
something, and guessed the rest....Eowyn went on;
'Orcs roam freely across our lands, burning and killing at will,
and any who check them are punished by the king, not rewarded. My own
brother, Eomer, is banished. If you do not send aid, Rohan will be lost
to the Enemy. Help us, Lord Steward, Gondor is our only hope!'
Eowyn's voice at the end lost its calmness and shook as she fought
back tears. Weary all of a sudden, she sat down abruptly, and bowed her
head and despite all her courage and her determination to appear calm
before these great princes, she wept bitterly.
