Cugusaelon was eating his breakfast at the wooden table in his house by the river Bruinen. He sat by the window, dipping a spelt tart into a steaming hot cup of nettle tea. Cugusaelon was a creature of habit and everything he ever did had rituals connected to it. That included breakfast. He always made nettle tea the same way at the same time and steamed the glossia at the same time as well.
Maglor’s death had shocked him. He still felt guilty over it because he had revealed Maglor’s presence and true identity to Sara Oakheart. Of course there was no reason to assume that Sara had any involvement with Maglor’s death. She had denied knowing anything about it when Cugusaelon had asked her of it, but it still made him uneasy to think about. In truth he had no idea who had killed Maglor and why, but he had told about him to Sara and he had been murdered by someone shortly after. Maglor had been an old friend to him. It was too bad what had happened, but he still had to keep the promise he had made to another old friend, Laerdan. The secret of Narmeleth and Delossad had to be kept from Elrond and all other elves of Imladris.
He ate the last of his spelt tart and wondered if he should have another. It was waiting for him invitingly under a crystal lid dome in the middle of the table. His mind wandered off with the satisfied idleness only an old, immortal elf of Imladris can achieve. Whatever had happened to Maglor, he could not be blamed for it. He had kept the promise he had made to Laerdan. He did not consired himself a traitor to Elrond either. Everything he had ever done had been done for the good of the elves and the Free Peoples.
Cugusaelon lifted the crystal lid dome and reached for the second spelt tart when he heard the sound of the door knocker. He went to the door and opened it. There was Laureanis standing outside.
Her face was badly bruised and beaten. One of her eyes was nearly swollen shut. She stared at him for a moment before she staggered inside. Another man entered on her heels. Cugusaelon had never seen him before but he knew it had to be the Gondorian Sara had spoken about.
Laureanis walked heavily across the marble floor and sat on a cushioned bench. ”I need bandages, water and ointment”, she said.
Cugusaelon stared at the Gondorian intruder in his foyer. ”Who are you to come to this valley, to my house, and…”
”You know who I am already, don’t you, Cugusaelon?” the man said in a low and flat tone. His words carried a peculiar kind of menace.
”I don’t understand.”
”Be quiet and help her.”
Cugusaelon thought about running, but the house was too small and crammed. He had a terrible feeling that the uninvited visitor would stab him in the back if he tried to run. He took a clean towel and a vial of tincture and filled a small pan with cool springwater. He carried them into the front room and placed them on a low table in front of Laureanis. After a few minutes of delicate work he had tended to her and bandaged her wounds. It was not an improvement to her looks, and the bruises would remain for days, even with the help of the elven tincture.
”You should take her to the Last Homely House”, Cugusaelon said. ”Elrond’s healers are better equipped to tend to her injuries. Why did you come here?”
Delioron sat down on the bench next to Laureanis and said nothing.
”I will go get help”, Cugusaelon said. ”Let’s get her to the Last Homely House.”
”Tell me about Maglor”, Delioron said.
Cugusaelon’s eyes widened. ”Maglor? Who do you mean? Do you mean Gwathrandir? I mean… you mean…”
”Tell me about his death.”
”I did not know he would be killed.”
”Who did you tell about him? Who did you reveal Gwathrandir’s real name to?”
”I cannot tell you that.”
”But you must”, Laureanis said. ”You will tell it to us or you will tell it to Elrond. Your choice.”
Cugusaelon was thinking fast. He understood that he had to tell Laureanis and the Gondorian something, or Elrond would personally pull the answers out of him. But was there still a way to protect Narmeleth’s secret and keep the promise he had made to Laerdan?
”A woman named Sara Oakheart”, Cugusaelon said at last.
”Why?” Delioron asked. ”Who is this Sara Oakheart to you?”
Cugusaelon remained quiet. There was not a single plausible lie he could come up with that would help him keep Narmeleth’s secret from his uninvited guests.
”Who?” Delioron insisted relentlessly.
”Just an old woman who lives in the forest. We trade stories from time to time.”
”Lies!”
”She is the… the enemy. Sara Oakheart is Sauron’s spy. And I am a traitor. I have sold Imladris out to Sauron for the promise of becoming it’s new ruler.”
”You are lying”, Laureanis said softly. ”You are protecting someone. Who and why?”
Cugusaelon sighed deeply. ”That… is something I will tell only to Elrond.”
”At least tell me one thing. Why did Maglor have to die?”
”I don’t know. I don’t believe Sara had anything to do with his death. Sara told me so, and I believe her. She’s just an old, weak woman. But you asked who I told about Maglor, and she is the only one. That is the truth. I’m sorry he is dead. He was my friend too.”
”Damn you”, Laureanis said. Her voice was so soft that the curse carried weight beyond the mere words.
”Why, Cugusaelon?” Delioron said.
”Please”, Cugusaelon pleaded. There were tears in the old elf’s eyes. His hands were trembling. ”Can’t you see how horrible this is? I will have to come clean to Elrond. I will have to tell him everything, I understand it now. I have done things behind his back, I have kept secrets from him, I have betrayed my Lord. Elrond will cast me out of Imladris, and I have lived here since it was founded. Don’t you see, Laureanis? What if you were forbidden to ever see this valley again, ever to walk it’s streets and forest paths again, ever to listen to the birds singing by the Bruinen?”
Cugusaelon turned to look at Delioron’s merciless face before him. ”I ask you only one thing. I will go meet Elrond before the sun sets tonight, but will you allow me to spend this last day here in peace? I just want to stroll along the valley of Imladris alone for a few hours, take in her sights and scenes and scents before they are forever forbidden from me. Will you grant me this wish?”
”I don’t have any say on that”, Delioron said.
Cugusaelon turned to Laureanis. ”Laureanis?
Laureanis stared at the old elf for a long time. Beneath the battered skin her eyes were shifting colors in shades of blue and green and gray. It was as if she did not see Delioron and Cugusaelon in the same room with her. When she finally spoke, her voice was distant.
”You must tell me one thing first. Where can we find this Sara Oakheart?”
Cugusaelon hesitated. ”She lives in the ruins of Delossad. You know the place, of course, though you may have never seen it up close. The Quendi never go near that place without a very good reason, but Sara has made herself home among the ruins. Can I go now? Laureanis?”
”Yes. You can go.”
The sullen light of the morning was flooding into the bright foreroom in Cugusaelon’s house. Dark clouds were hanging low above the steeples of Rivendell, threatening with rain. When Cugusaelon had left Delioron and Laureanis could hear the first rumbles of thunder. And to think how bright and sunny it had been in the morning.
”What will you do now?” Laureanis asked.
”I don’t know. I don’t know what I have. I guess we will have to wait until evening. What is Delossad?”
”Some ancient ruins from the Cardolan period. The elves don’t know it’s original purpose or name.” Laureanis smiled a bitter smile. ”We have named it Delossad, but we never go there or even talk about it if it can be avoided. The place reeks of corruption. Something terrible has taken place there.”
”Choileach talked about Sara as well.”
”Yes, but even he did not know who she was. We know that she was involved with the Angmarim and Mordirrim plot to assassinate Elrond, but even Choileach didn’t know who killed Maglor. We don’t know for sure if it was Sara at all.”
”Except that we do”, Delioron said. ”Who else could it have been?”
”Yes”, Laureanis said. ”Who else?” She stared past the man, not at the room but at her sad memory of Maglor on that last night she had seen him alive. He had loved her, he had set out into the night to save her, and that’s what had cost him his life. She remembered how horrified he had looked when she had told him of the tortures inflicted upon her during her captivity in Angband. She had wanted to wound him as he had wounded her, so that their love could be equal. So that all the hurt and betrayals could one day be forgotten. And then he had left into the night to save her. She had not even watched him go in the last hour of his life. She had been too tired to look.
”What will you do about Cugusaelon?” Delioron asked.
”What should I do about him?”
”Don’t you want revenge?”
”Should I seek to kill everyone who has ever wounded me? Should I seek to kill everyone who played any part in Maglor’s death?”
Delioron said nothing.
”Cugusaelon loves Imladris”, Laureanis said, plucking at her soiled dress. ”He has lived here since it's founding. But once he has made his confession to Elrond, he and whoever he’s trying to protect will be cast out of here. They can never see their home again. That is punishment enough, I think.”
”Cugusaelon must have told this Sara Oakheart everything he knew”, Delioron said. ”Perhaps he didn’t know about the plot to assassinate Elrond, perhaps he didn’t know Sara was going to kill Maglor, perhaps he still doesn’t believe she was the one who killed him, but for some reason he did confide in her.”
”What are you going to do?”
”Rest now”, Delioron said softly. It was still too early to make plans for tomorrow.
