Laureanis was certain nobody had followed her, especially not Maglor, but caution compelled her to make sure of it. After she had crossed the Bruinen and ridden westward for a mile she reined her horse north off the road and hid it behind a sheltered coppice with a good vantage point to the road. She waited there for an hour, immobile like a rock, watching the road. When she was sure nobody was coming after her she tied her horse to a branch of a tree and climbed a steep slope to the foot of a rock face. There were crumbling remains of some ancient ruin atop the cliff. Dilapidated stone blocks had collapsed on the ground on the foot of the rock face, near the entrance of a cave in the cliff wall. Laureanis walked quickly and silently into the cave.
It was dark inside in spite of the burning bonfire deeper in the cave. Gnarled roots grew through the walls and floor of the cave, reaching towards Laureanis like undead, skeletal hands. A dark figure stood behind the fire, hands behind his back, facing the wall of the cave as Laureanis entered.
”You’re late”, said the man in a low voice. ”How is it going with your husband?”
”It’s not important”, Laureanis said. ”Not to you.”
”Everything is important, Laureanis”, said the man. ”You should know that. I need to know if he trusts you yet.”
Laureanis stared at the man without speaking until he turned and emerged from the shadows into the light of the bonfire. Choileach was a tall, hideous man. His face was distorted by a red scar cutting down his left cheek, pulling his skin in different ways through the empty socket of his left eye. Choileach never wore an eyepatch over the empty, ghastly socket. His right leg had once been crushed from the knee, and while the bones had eventually healed, the leg was nearly useless now; a broken, misshapen thing he dragged behind him as he moved.
Choileach had red beard and greasy, limp and lifeless red hair that hung to his shoulders like a straw wig. He was originally from the Corcur tribe of hillmen that resided in the northern part of Trollshaws, but he had been banished from his tribe years ago for a crime he never talked about to anyone. His former kin had plucked out his eye, disfigured his face and crushed his leg before he had been cast out of the tribe. Now his only home was this cave the eldar called Nurath. Elves avoided the cave because they believed it was haunted. Most of the few who knew Choileach and came to see him in his cave were afraid of him, though nobody could remember any harm the mad hermit had ever done to anyone.
Laureanis waited patiently for Choileach to speak. She showed no fear in the face of his grim visage or the red flame of madness that burned deep within his remaining eye like a hot ember.
”I am not some ordinary hillman your kind treats as filth”, Choileach said. ”Don’t treat me as one.”
”I am sorry if my manners offend you”, Laureanis said calmly. ”Your questions about my husband offend me.”
”Don’t forget that it was me who gave you the information about your husband in the first place.”
It was Laureanis’ turn to turn her back on Choileach and stare at the wall of the cave. She watched the shadows dancing on the wall. She did not want her eyes to reveal her emotions to Choileach.
”That he came from Gondor”, Choileach continued. ”That the only reason he came to seek you out was because an important man in Minas Tirith asked him to come. To spy on you. And now I want to know how things lie between you and him.”
”My life belongs to no one but me”, Laureanis said, turning to face Choileach again. Her eyes were now shining with dark contempt.
”Does it now?” Choileach wondered. ”Do you remember Nírnaeth Arnoediad, Laureanis? You should. You surely paid a heavy price for that battle. You were taken captive by Morgoth, taken to Angband, tortured and tormented there. And when you finally managed to escape, how were you treated by your kin, by your beloved husband? You were abandoned, cast away like that much rotting meat! You have suffered, Laureanis. For six thousand years you have suffered. And when Elrond finally took you in and gave you a refuge in Imladris, did it change anything? Aren’t you still shunned and ostracized by your own kin? Tell me, how many close friends do you have in Imladris?” Choileach shook his head sadly.
”My ancestors also paid a heavy price, and so have I paid.” Choileach struck his chest with his fist. ”I am a lineal descendant of Bór the Faithful. Bór and his sons were the only men who remained faithful to the Ñoldor and Maedhros, and all of them were wiped out during Nírnaeth Arnoediad! I have been a seeker of knowledge and wisdom for all my life, and for that my former kinsmen mocked me and made fun of me. And when they could not understand, they disfigured me and crippled me, blinded me and crushed my bones, cast me out and abandoned me! We have more in common than you think, Laureanis. But together we can forge a new Union of Maedhros – this time to pay back for what has been stolen from us, to take back what is ours and to avenge all the wrongs that have been done to us!”
”Why do you talk to me like I was a child you can impress and manipulate with your words? I am not a child, Choileach. I am older than you. Much older. What do you want with Maglor?”
”Everything will be revealed in time.”
”I won’t allow you to kill him.”
”Kill him? Why would I want to do that?” Choileach smiled, but it only made his face look more horrific. ”He is only useful to me alive.”
”How do you know why Maglor came here?” Laureanis asked. ”Why did you tell me?”
”No.” Choileach shook his head. ”The real question is, what does he want now that he is here? To live with you as man and wife again, as if his absence for thousands of years was nothing? Or to have you lead him to me and my associates?” Choileach smiled again. ”Laureanis, do not flatter yourself. Do not think he came back for love. If he loved you, would he not have come back ages ago? Would he not have abandoned you in the first place?”
Laureanis took a step towards Choileach, and he retreated. ”What do you want with Maglor? I must know.”
”Laureanis”, Choileach replied sharply, ”if we must take him captive, then that is what we will do. We will do whatever it takes to find out the reason he was sent here. But there is no need for that now. Not yet.”
”So you would take him captive. You would interrogate him, and then you would kill him.”
”Certainly. We could never let him go. You know that.” Choileach’s voice was like ice rushing along a river in spring.
”But if I was to find out what he wants, tell you first…”
”Yes. We would have no need to harm him at all.” Choileach stepped into the light again. ”So you see, it is your responsibility.”
Laureanis understood then that Maglor’s life was in her hands.
